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HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
J_
LLOYD L. MORAIN, president of the American Humanist Asso
ciation, studied under Alfred Korzybski, Bertrand Russell, and
Hans Reichenbach. A former personnel consultant, he is now
a personal business advisor in San Francisco, and a director of
twelve industrial, public utility, and financial corporations.
His wife, MARY MORAIN, is a director of the International
Humanist and Ethical Union. Holder of a master s degree in
political science from the University of Chicago, she has been
both a social worker and a college teacher, and has served as a
vice-president of the League of Women Voters of Boston and
of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts.
HUMANISM
AS THE NEXT STEP
An Introduction
for Liberal Protestants, Catholics, and Jews
By LLOYD and MARY MORAIN
THE BEACON PRESS -BOSTON
Copyright 1954
THE BEACON PRESS
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 54-6161
Printed in U.S.A.
Contents
1. The Fourth Faith 3
A Growing Movement
Religion and the Religious Attitude
Humanism as a Philosophy and Religion
2. Forerunners of Humanism 16
Seven Contributing Ideas
Enthusiasm for Life
Nature Matters
Confidence in Men
Men Are Equal
Mutual Aid
Things Evolve
Experience Is Our Guide
And So Humanism
3. Some Basic Beliefs 27
The Fundamental Premise
Points of General Agreement
4. Answers to Some Common Questions 30
Are Humanists Agnostics?
How Do Humanists Use the Bible?
Why Do Humanists Respect Jesus?
What Is the Humanist Basis for Morality?
What Do Humanists Think about the Soul?
What Do Humanists Think about Immortality?
Was Our Country Founded on the Belief in God?
Do Humanists Go to Church?
Do Humanists Have Ministers?
Do Humanists Oppose Ceremonies and Rituals?
Is Humanism Less Complete Than Other Religions?
Do Humanists Claim Absolute Certainty?
Is the Humanist Faith a Satisfying One?
Has Humanism Sacrificed All Sense of Assurance?
Do Humanists Believe the Fourth Faith Unites People?
Do Many People Call Themselves Humanists?
Is the Humanist Movement Organized?
61O4259
VI CONTENTS
Do Humanists Expect Other Churches to Close Their Doors?
Do Humanists Believe Their Movement Will Grow?
5. How Humanism Meets Personal Needs 42
Three Basic Needs
Mental and Emotional Security
Ethical Standards
Inspiration
6. Applying Humanism to Personal Problems 57
The General Approach
Problems Involving Other People
A Practical Example
Living with Others
Living with Oneself
7. Applying Humanism to Social Problems 67
Humanism as a Spur to Action
The Dream
Freedom for All
Social Action
Humanist Principles That Bear on Social Problems
Tackling a Social Problem
Tackling the Problem of Russia
8. The Development of Organization 82
The American Humanist Association
The Association s Publications
The First International Congress on Humanism and Ethical
Culture
The American Conference Statement
Cooperation among Protestants, Catholics, Jews, and Humanists
9. The Great Adventure 94
How to Decide Whether You Are a Humanist
For Sober Reflection
What Humanism Gives Us
APPENDIX 99
Humanism: The Third Way, by Hector Haw ton 100
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING 109
INDEX 113
HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
CHAPTER ONE
The Fourth Faith
A Growing Movement
Every year more men and women of all races are call
ing themselves humanists. For them the old orthodoxies
have lost significance. They are finding satisfaction in the
positive, constructive point of view of humanism. In
Europe and the Americas it is coming to be known as the
fourth faith. It shares much with the philosophies and
religions of the East as well as of the West.
Throughout the ages religions of many kinds have con
tained a common spirit. We can see this in their scrip
tures.
In Brahmanism we find: " This is the sum of duty: Do
naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to
you" (Mahabharata, $, 1517).
In Buddhism: " Hurt not others in ways that you your
self would find hurtful " (Udana-Varga 5, 18) .
In Christianity: " All things whatsoever ye would that
man should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is
the Law and the Prophets " (Matthew 7, 12) .
In Confucianism: " Is there one maxim which ought to
be acted upon throughout one s whole life? Surely it is the
maxim of loving-kindness: Do not unto others what you
would not have them do unto you " (Analects 15, 23) .
4 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
In Islam: " No one of you is a believer until he desires
for his brother that which he desires for himself " (Sun-
nah) .
In Judaism: " What is hateful to you, do not to your
fellowman. That is the entire Law; all the rest is com
mentary " (Talmud, Shabbat 3 id) .
In Taoism: " Regard your neighbor s gain as your own
gain, and your neighbor s loss as your own loss " (T ai
Shang Kan Ying Fieri) .
Upon this common ethical basis have been built vary
ing religious practices and diverse theological beliefs.
Down through the ages men have been seeking a uni
versal religion or way of life. They are still seeking.
Throughout the world there are wide cultural variations.
Ways of worship, rituals, symbols, and sacraments are dif
ferent. Humanism, built squarely on the universal idea
of brotherhood, upon the golden rule, shows promise of
becoming a great world faith.
Humanists are content with fixing their attention on
this life and on this earth. Theirs is a religion without a
God, divine revelation, or sacred scriptures. Yet theirs is
a faith rich in feeling and understanding. They see sor
rows and joys, tragedies and triumphs, touching every
fiber of human life. They experience wholesome humil
ity as they venture forward with their fellow men into the
as-yet-unknown.
We may now note several facts about this rapidly grow
ing philosophy and religion.
(1) It has developed in response to the spiritual needs
and aspirations of people in different parts of the world.
(2) It contains an ethical core similar to that of many
religions and philosophies.
THE FOURTH FAITH 5
(3) It is free from divisive doctrines about the un
known, deity, revelation, sacred scriptures, rituals, sacra
ments, formal theology, and such befuddling ideas as the
radical separation of either the world or the individual
into matter and spirit.
(4) It is a philosophy of men s relations to one another
and to nature, rather than of men s relations to deity.
Built on this fresh, vital basis it is little wonder that
humanism has called forth accelerated world-wide interest.
In 1952, for the first time, representatives from humanist
groups in many countries met in Holland and formed the
International Humanist and Ethical Union. Julian Hux
ley, a biologist and the first Director-General of Unesco,
served as president. He is among those who believe that
humanism will be the world s next great faith.
Here in the United States the number of humanist
groups has doubled in each of the past several years. Some
of these groups, for example, many of the Unitarian Fel
lowships, are functioning under the auspices of a liberal
religious denomination. Each year more and more Prot
estants, Catholics, and Jews, as well as many without any
previous religious affiliation, are coming to follow as their
own this way of life.
This faith is held by a large number of individuals who
have made or are making solid contributions to human
welfare and understanding. Among distinguished hu
manists of the recent past are Edwin G. Conklin, John
Dewey, Horace Fries, John Galsworthy, Frederick J.
Gould, Sir Richard ^Gregory, John A. Hobson, James H.
Leuba, Sinclair Lewis, Eduard C. Lindeman, F. S. Marvin,
Arthur B. Moehlman, Hans Reichenbach, Porter Sargent,
and George Santayana. Their influence has spread in
O HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
countless ways and has given humanism a powerful mo
mentum. In many respects humanism s strength is found,
as any list will show, in the high proportion of eminent
leaders and thinkers who today hold this faith. Yet to an
increasing degree those following this way of life represent
a cross section of the American population.
We believe that it will help the reader to understand the
movement if we list some of the people who have expressed
ideas consistent with the rich and varied humanist view.
Those who have contributed to the advancement of
human welfare and understanding on the international
scene include Brock Chisholm, Julian Huxley, Sir Arthur
Keith, Lord Boyd Orr, and Gerald Wendt.
Some of those contributing to arts and letters are Con
rad Aiken, A., J. Ayer, Eleanor D. Berman, Van Wyck
Brooks, M. L. Burnet, Witter Bynner, Blodwen Davies,
LeGarde S. Doughty, Dorothy Canfield Fisher, James T.
Farrell, Charles I. Glicksberg, Henry Hazlitt, Llewellyn
Jones, Joseph Wood Krutch, Thomas Mann, Herbert J.
Muller, Gilbert Murray, Priscilla Robertson, Jules Ro-
mains, Allen Walker Read, and Miriam de Ford Shipley.
The list of philosophers could become very long be
cause various philosophic positions emerge into human
ism. The point of view known as " scientific humanism "
has been developed very largely among this group. Such
philosophers include Van Meter Ames, C. E. Ayres, Ar
thur Bentley, Brand Blanshard, Boyd H. Bode, Fortunato
Brancatisano, Rudolf Carnap, Irwin Edman, Herbert
Feigl, Philipp Frank, George R. Geiger, Sidney Hook,
Horace M. Kallen, Corliss Lamont, Harold A. Larrabee,
J. A. Leighton, Charles Mayer, D. Michael Morandini,
Max Otto, John Herman Randall, Jr., Joseph Ratner,
THE FOURTH FAITH 7
Oliver L. Reiser, M. N. Roy, Roy Wood Sellars, Surindar
S. Suri, Charles Morris, and Gardner Williams. Other
philosophers, including A. J. Bahm, Rubin Gotesky,
James L. Jarrett, Jr., Keith McGary, Francis Myers, Don
ald A. Piatt, Sidney Ratner, and Philip Phenix, have
helped with the editing of The Humanist.
Many teachers of religion, liberal ministers, and ethical
leaders are identified with the fourth faith. Educators in
this field include J. A. C. F. Auer, Alfred S. Cole, A. Eus
tace Haydon, Charles H. Lyttle, and Conrad Moehlman.
Unitarian, Universalist, and Humanist Society ministers
among many others include T. C. Abell, E. Burdette
Backus, L. M. Birkhead, Raymond B. Bragg, John Brog-
den, Edwin T, Buehrer, Fred I Cairns, Ernest Caldecott,
David Cole, Dale DeWitt, Albert C. Dieffenbach, John
Gardner Greene, William D. Hammond, Albert Harkins,
John H. Hershey, Randall Hilton, E. S. Hodgin, William
P. Jenkins, John MacKinnon, James W. MacKnight, Philip
Mayer, Kenneth L. Patton, Charles Francis Potter, Tracy
M. Pullman, Curtis W. Reese, Peter Sansom, Philip
Schug, Clinton Lee Scott, Harold Scott, Fred Shorter, Carl
A. Storm, Kenneth C. Walker, David Rhys Williams, and
Edwin H. Wilson. Ethical leaders identified with the
position include Harold Blackham, Arthur E. Briggs,
Percival Chubb, James F. Hornbach, J. Hutton Hynd, R.
Lester Mondale, and George O Dell. Although they tend
to express themselves within the traditional symbols, nu
merous rabbis in the non-orthodox Jewish groups the
Reformed, the Recpnstructionist, and the Conservative,
express interestin^^liiovement. Of these Mordecai
Kaplan, Bertram Korn, and the late Solomon Goldman
are among the most distinguished.
8 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
Rudolf Dreikurs, Erich Fromm, and Karl A. Menninger,
are among the psychiatrists. Educators and social scien
tists make up the largest group. Here we might mention
George E. Axtelle, Read Bain, Harry Elmer Barnes, Fred
erick H. Burkhardt, Nathaniel Cantor, Wallace O. Fenn,
Virginia Flemming, Frank H. Hankins, S. I. Hayakawa,
John C. Kidneigh, William Heard Kilpatrick, Alfred Mc-
Clung Lee, William G. Rice, Jacob Saposnekow, John R.
Seeley, Clarence Senior, George Simpson, Mark Starr,
George D. Stoddard, E. L. Talbert, Harold Taylor, V. T.
Thayer, Claude W. Thompson, Norman Torrey, and
E. C. Vanderlaan.
Scientists, engineers, and architects who are known as
humanists include Malcolm H. Bissell, Anton J. Carlson,
Saul Dushman, Ralph W. Girard, C. Judson Herrick,
Clyde Kluckhohn, Arthur E. Morgan, Rexford Newcomb,
Harold R. and Helen Rafton, Karl Sax, Paul Schweikher,
Maurice B. Visscher, and Willis R. Whitney.
Among those working largely within free thought groups
to bring about a more humanist emphasis are C. Brad-
laugh Bonner, Ira D. Cardiff, George A. Fink, Paul Kin-
ney, Hugh Robert Orr, Mr. and Mrs. Eldon Scholl, and
E. L. Dwight Turner.
There are numerous other eminent citizens not easily
classified in one or another of the groups we have men
tioned. Of these we might list Jessie L. Armstrong, Ray
mond C. Baumgardner, Warner Clark, Arthur C. Comey,
Philip R. Faymonville, Ruby D. Garrett, Edouard Her-
riot, Harrison Hires, William H. Holly, Roy John, Gor
don, Kent, Julius Kespohl, J. Jack Lang, Leo Lerner,
Clarence H, Low, Vashti McCollum, Robert G. Risk, Jud
R. Scholtz, J. Ray Shute, Sherman and Eva Wakefield,
THE FOURTH FAITH
James Peter Warbasse, James H. White, Herbert A. Wise,
and Mary Winsor.
That these hundred and eighty leaders o independent
mind and spirit should share this common faith attests to
its vitality. There are of course varied emphases in hu
manism and the particular quality of an individual s views
will be conditioned, within the very wide limits of this
philosophy, by his background, whatever it may be
science, philosophy, business, social work, literature and
the arts, liberal religion, free thought, or other area of
activity. A few of those individuals mentioned may not
apply the humanist label to themselves. In some cases
they may point to a particular humanist and say, " I am
not that kind of humanist." But would not that also be
true of other faiths and philosophies? A few people have
labelphobia. Our list is, however, a reasonable cross-sec
tion, and most of those mentioned are members of the
American Humanist Association. The few who are not,
can, by their own writing and declarations, be identified
as pursuing this way of life, or as expressing in their pub
lished views many humanist principles.
This faith is beginning to make an impact on human
affairs. It is a faith appropriate to an age in which men
are coming to realize their own strength and worth.
We are living in a time of vigorous protest. We see in
many parts of the world agonized efforts on the part of
peoples to rule themselves, to democratize their govern
ments. Just as political concepts of divine right and con
trol have been overthrown, so many of the traditional
religious and philosophical ideas are being challenged.
In many instances people have simply turned away from
religious activity. They are doing this even in those coun-
10 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
tries where to do so brings social disapproval, even ostra
cism. For them no institution or group of people has a
corner on wisdom or on high ethical principles. They
recognize the whole human family as a great interdepend
ent brotherhood.
People everywhere are coming to realize that science is
universal and not localized knowledge or belief. They
know that biologists, whether in Bolivia, in Japan, or in
Sweden, have a basis of common principles and share the
fruits of their knowledge. There is no special kind of
Bolivian or Japanese biology which is radically different
from Swedish biology. Political leaders in a few nations
have tried to shape scientific studies to nationalistic ends
but they sooner or later fail in this. People are also com
ing to understand that ethical principles and basic stand
ards of moral conduct have common roots and universal
application. It is only natural that those groups who tie
these standards into special rituals, religious observances,
and theologies are fighting a defensive, losing battle. The
human spirit is too vigorous to be kept forever in shackles.
The past few years have seen the formation of humanist
groups in nations as different as India and Holland. Or
ganizations in several countries have been started by in
dividuals who had no inkling of the fact that at the same
time people in other countries were also starting groups.
Men and women of different nations arrived at the same
conclusions and proceeded in the same way to give them
form.
One difference between the humanist movement in
America and in other parts of the world is that in some
countries humanism is thought of as a Third Way or third
force. That is, it is considered an alternative of belief and
THE FOURTH FAITH 11
action to the authoritarian political systems on the one
hand and to the traditional religions on the other. Here
in America where we enjoy democratic political freedom
we do not have to seek such an alternative, and so far as
we know this faith is rarely spoken of over here as a Third
Way.
Whether or not there will be humanist halls in every
city of our land and tens of millions of members remains
to be seen. In its present stage of growth the fourth faith
is having a liberalizing influence on many of the tradi
tional religions and philosophies. Within the Unitarian,
Universalist, and Ethical Culture organizations whole con
gregations are becoming openly humanist. The mount
ing concern of the Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish cler
gies over the effect of humanism on some members of
their churches testifies to the appeal and strength of the
fourth faith.
The American Humanist Association helps to bring to
gether humanists wherever they are found. A number
are in liberal churches and enjoy membership in both
their church and the A. H. A. Such humanists take part
in the educational program of the Association which is a
cooperating rather than a competing organization. Hu
man fulfilment is the goal; institutions are instruments of
fulfilment.
Religion and the Religious Attitude
Attempts to ridicule religion or to dismiss it as unim
portant rarely meet with any lasting success. For religion
is a vital part of the lives of many of us. It gives every in
dication of continuing to be so.
Religion has been defined in nearly as many ways as there
12 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
have been definers. It is often spoken of as " a system of
faith or worship/ or as " an awareness or conviction of
the existence of a supreme being arousing reverence, love,
gratitude, and the will to obey."
Other thoughtful men have given very different defini
tions. Thomas Paine merely said: " The world is my
country, to do good my religion."
A. Eustace Haydon, professor emeritus of comparative
religion at the University of Chicago, offers as his defini
tion: " The shared quest of the good life."
Alfred North Whitehead has described it simply as
" what the individual does with his solitariness."
To us religion is the creation and pursuit of ideals and
the relationship men feel with one another and with the
universe. For us religion and theology are not necessarily
the same.
Most humanists believe that the ordinary individual can
have a religious experience which does not include any
supernatural element. Humanists suggest that religious
feeling and attitudes have been mistakenly limited. They
have been limited to that which is becoming less and less
real and meaningful to us the old theologies and rituals.
John Dewey describes religious attitudes as basically
a thoroughgoing and deep-seated harmonizing of the self
with the universe. And he further defines religious ex
perience as that which has the power to bring about a
deeper and more enduring adjustment to life. Can we
not agree with Dewey that everyday life will have more
meaning once we realize that religious experiences are a
part of its fabric?
Julian Huxley regards the basis of religion as " the con
sciousness of sanctity in existence, in common things, in
events of human life."
THE FOURTH FAITH lg
Horace M. Kallen, in an address for the " Faith in Ac
tion " series o the National Broadcasting Company net
work, said:
What makes a religious man is not what he believes, but
how he believes in it. A belief becomes religious when a man
makes his total commitment, risks his life, on what he believes.
Now, you might say that the American way is the most com
prehensive religious way because it insures that freedom of
commitment for all sorts of different beliefs. And that s why
the American way and the Humanist way coincide.
From time immemorial men have related their lives
with the larger life of nature. They wished to feel that
their code of social behavior had something of the sacred
in it. These attitudes have been organized together in
the idea of " God." Yet men can receive these same satis
factions from a philosophy which is not built on the idea
of deity. Men can learn that ideals are in reality useful
goals growing out of human experience and not set apart
from creative life. Men can learn that their lives are
more closely woven into the whole universe than they had
even suspected in the old days. Religion without a super
natural element becomes meaningful and personal.
The endless struggle between science and religion dies
down. The spiritual aspects of life are no longer incon
sistent and at odds with those things that we can experience
and test. No longer need there be that type of spiritual
realm that does violence to our intelligence and to our
knowledge of the processes of the world.
Humanism as a Philosophy and Religion
Humanism as well as religion has been defined in in
numerable ways. Many a humanist has made his own
definition. This is a healthful condition. For truths are
14 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
not contained within the words of definitions. The value
of definitions is in calling attention to relationships or in
making appropriate descriptions. The broad general hu
manist viewpoint, enriched as it is by the insights of people
of varying temperaments, cannot even be sketched within
a few sentences or paragraphs. As it is a general point of
view it is only natural that different people should find
different aspects of it particularly significant to them.
Those individuals of more philosophical bent will look
to it as a living philosophy. If they are technically trained
they may study humanist theories of knowledge and of
value. Some whose primary interest is found in current
world problems, in building a better, happier human
community, naturally think of humanism as a point of
view that could bring all the people of the world together.
For them it is a challenging call to make full use of all
that is in us to build cooperatively a richer human life.
The interest of yet another group is in the role of human
ism as a champion of the scientific approach as over
against the traditional theological one, of democracy over
authoritarianism, of common sense over superstition. A
fourth group hails it as a means for achieving personal in
tegration, maturity, and freedom. Once these personal
values are won, concern in, and action for, the larger social
good follows naturally.
Whether or not one looks to humanism as a religion
or as a philosophy to live by or as a way of life is, we
believe, largely a matter of personal temperament and
preference. Those caught up by its religious aspects know
that it provides a vibrant, satisfying faith. Those who
think of it as a philosophy find it both reasonable and
adequate.
THE FOURTH FAITH 15
One of the great religious humanist pioneers, John H.
Dietrich, pointed out:
For centuries the idea of God has been the very heart of
religion; it has been said " no God, no religion." But human
ism thinks of religion as something very different and far
deeper than any belief in God. To it, religion is not the at
tempt to establish right relations with a supernatural being,
but rather the upreaching and aspiring impulse in a human
life. It is life striving for its completest fulfillment, and any
thing which contributes to this fulfillment is religious, whether
it be associated with the idea of God or not.
Another humanist pioneer, Charles Francis Potter, de
fines humanism as, " Faith in the supreme self-perfectibil
ity of the human personality."
Humanism gives to many people the satisfactions which
have come to them in the past either from other religions
or from other philosophies. In doing this it serves some
as a religion, others as a philosophy. Inasmuch as it is
both a philosophy and a religion there is no need to deny
that it has both functions.
It developed as the scientific viewpoint was grafted upon
a philosophy of good will and of confidence in men and
nature. It is neither vague nor colorless but positive and
dynamic, whether thought of as a religion, a philosophy,
or a way of life.
CHAPTER TWO
Forerunners of Humanism
Seven Contributing Ideas
The ideas which make up humanism have developed
slowly throughout history and will not fade into oblivion
just because people may some day cease to use the term
" humanist." Although there were individual humanists
in each of the past twenty-five or more centuries, it has
been only in the present one that organized groups have
developed and that these ideas have been recognized as
forming a point of view, an approach to life.
Nothing human is alien to this faith. The entire past of
man can be claimed as its tradition. It has been called the
oldest and most complete of faiths.
There are, however, certain specific ideas which have
gone into the making of modern humanism. Seven of
these, although at some points shading into one another,
seem to us to stand out.
As a starting point let us take the idea that this life
should be experienced deeply, lived fully, with sensitive
awareness and appreciation of that which is around us.
Ajtists and explorers, in particular, have had this keen
awareness. This idea has long been important in the hu
manist tradition.
Another idea is that nature is thoroughly worthy of at-
FORERUNNERS OF HUMANISM 17
tention, of study. Early philosopher-scientists, among
them Aristotle, shaped this notion.
Still another idea is that of confidence in men. For ex
pression of this we are indebted in large measure to the
eighteenth-century democrats who had faith that men can
control their own destinies.
A fourth idea is that of the equality of rights among
men. This is part of the democratic ideal and for it we
are again particularly under obligation to the eighteenth-
century democrats.
Brotherhood and mutual aid are chosen as a fifth cen
tral idea. This important theme lies deep in most reli
gions. Early humanists were exhilarated to see it given a
new justification through the work of sociologists and
biologists.
A further idea is that of evolution as worked, out by
nineteenth-century scientists. Early humanists were quick
to realize the implications of development through grad
ual change.
For the seventh and last idea we have chosen the basic
rule of science, the need of proving theory by experience.
On this principle has been built the whole modern scien
tific method of verification by experiment. No other
idea has been of more practical importance to the human
ist movement than this one.
Enthusiasm for Life
Back through the centuries whenever men have enjoyed
keenly the sights and sounds and other sensations of the
world about them, and enjoyed these for what they were
not because they stood for something else they were
experiencing life humanistically. Whenever they felt keen
l8 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
interest in the drama of human life about them and ar
dently desired to take part in it they felt as humanists.
The Greek and Roman philosophers Epicurus and
Lucretius urged their followers to find happiness in the
present world, in nature, and in the affection of friends.
During the Renaissance there was a general rebirth of in
terest in the present, of zest for living.
In each age the work of some artists has revealed the
beauty of the world as it is, beauty that might otherwise
go unnoticed. Such work has given new insights into the
grandeur and meaning of human life as men experience it.
Beethoven s fifth and ninth symphonies, Rembrandt s por
traits, Shakespeare s plays do this for us.
Men have shown a humanist spirit when they were
eager to make their life yet richer and more satisfying,
easier, more comfortable, and more stimulating.
Nature Matters
Throughout history a scattering of men have relied on
their intelligence and energies to force nature to give up
her secrets. They have done this in order to make life
more livable, or because of an inspired, disciplined curi
osity.
In the humanist tradition are Copernicus, Galileo, and
other investigators who, in the face of indifference or
hostility, courageously observed, experimented, recorded,
and formulated. They took the whole universe as their
domain daring to explore the heavens, the earth, and man.
Protagoras, speaking in Greece, 500 B.C., encouraged
men to turn their minds to the investigation of what lay
about them. " As to the gods," he said, " I have no means
of knowing either that they exist or do not exist. For
FORERUNNERS OF HUMANISM 1Q
many are the obstacles that impede knowledge, both the
obscurity of the questions and the shortness of human
life/ He it was who gave us that famous dictum: " Man
is the measure of all things."
Many centuries later Francis Bacon, leading the revolt
against medieval scholasticism, urged men to pursue sci
ence.
In philosophy, the materialist and naturalist tradition
had sturdy roots in ancient times. J^riy^^p^lQsapb,ers
basing their systems entirely on the natural world founded
these schools of thought. The naturalists emphasized the
sufficiency of nature as a framework for thinking. The
materialists developed theories of matter little different
from those held in this atomic age. Today these have been
developed and blended together. However, they had
barely survived the rise of the Church and the advent of
the Dark Ages. The modern tradition can be traced
through Bacon, Spinoza, and Peirce to George H. Mead,
John Dewey, Hans Reichenbach, and Arthur Bentley.
Modern refinements have been important, but for this
school of thought nature as the sum total of physical reali
ties still remains the framework.
Confidence in Men
During the Renaissance there was manifested a new con
fidence in human powers but the social implications of this
new awareness were first fully faced in the eighteenth
century by those who fought for the rights of men. These
leaders felt confidence in what all men could do if given
freedom. They had a profound belief in reason, a deep
distrust of all tyrannies which control men s minds.
These men lived in a world where political, economic,
SO HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
and religious power was in the hands of a few. They lived
in a time when the dead hand of tradition was strong and
that tradition backed by deeply entrenched interests.
Classical scholars and priesthoods encouraged respect for
divine revelation and discouraged self-reliance. Menjvere
told to accept rather than to investigate and to question.
Through the centuries religious leaders had taught that
there were laws beyond the reach of rea$on and that one
should follow obediently those. who knew and interpreted
such laws. They taught that men should concentrate on
reaching the next world rather than center thoughts and
actions on this one.
We see here two opposing moods: the one for self-deter
mination; the other against it. As John Herman Ran
dall, Jr., has said, history is
... an alternation of two moods . . . there is the mood of
supernaturalism ... a mood of dependence and self-abnega
tion, a bitter realization of frustration and failure, in which
man s confidence oozes to nothingness and he feels himself
the plaything of forces which he cannot pretend to com
prehend.
And there is the humanistic hope " involving the trium
phant apotheosis of man, the creator and builder."
The eighteenth century democrats, Rousseau and Vol
taire, believed in men s right to liberty. They felt that
only where men are free are they able to become all they
might be. Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson were op
posed to all governments, institutions, laws, and customs
which restrained the free use of men s minds, which im
posed arbitrary, unnecessary authority on how men shall
think and act.
Thomas Jefferson wrote:
FORERUNNERS OF HUMANISM 21
I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and con
stitutions. But laws and institutions must go hand and hand
with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more
developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made,
new truths discovered and manners and opinions change . . .
institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times.
We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which
fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under
the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.
Men Are Equal
We are indebted in large measure to the eighteenth
century democrats not only for their concept of political
freedom but for the idea of political equality. Not only is
there intrinsic value in each of us, but there is a basic
human equality among us.
Political and religious leaders traditionally supported
the theory of divine right and the notion that some indi
viduals were inherently superior to others. Some fellows
with an independent turn of mind ornery nonconform
ists who were perpetually getting into trouble looked
at all the kings, dukes, bishops, and priests and whispered
the simple questions: What, if anything, makes them supe
rior? What indispensable purpose do they serve?
Mutual Aid
For centuries many religions have advanced the idea
that all men are brothers and therefore should help one
another. This notion, however, has fared but poorly and
still is bravely struggling for survival in a largely callous
world. The difficulty lies, perhaps, in that humans have
been told merely that it is our duty to feel as brothers.
We have been given no satisfactory reasons.
There are many reasons why the modern humanist is
22 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
convinced of the value of cooperation. In the first place,
concentration of interest in the present, in this life on
earth, has acted as a dynamo generating the idea that exist
ence should be tolerable for everyone. If this is the only
life we can be sure of, let us make it a worthy one.
During the last hundred years, furthermore, the human
ist knows that scientists have made clear how cooperation
is, in a very real sense, important to survival on many
levels of life. Kropotkin pointed out how crucial to hu
man and animal survival is the exercise of mutual aid.
Patten, the paleontologist, found in cooperation the grand
strategy of evolution. According to Bernard s zoological
researches, the development of higher forms of life was
made possible by the progressive cooperation of cells.
Things Evolve
Many early Greeks did not believe that the world had
been created as of a particular date by a deity. They felt
that somehow this universe with its wealth of living things
had evolved from some simpler material. Certain nine
teenth century scientists had come to this view but not
until the publication of Darwin s The Origin of Species
were average men and women faced with the idea of evo
lution.
In the first shock of this discovery most felt that a com
mon ancestry with animals lowered the human race to a
level with them. There were others, however, who sensed
that in the idea of evolution there lay cause for special
encouragement. While other living things must adapt
themselves to nature, must change their own forms, men
on account of their special gifts are able to adapt nature
to themselves. The idea that men can turn the process of
FORERUNNERS OF HUMANISM 23
evolution to their own advantage to further their own
highest good, and to recreate the world and themselves, is
at the very center of present-day humanism.
During the nineteenth century a few thinkers suggested
that moral laws have not come to us through revelation.
Herbert Spencer s strong voice announced that these are
the results of men s experiences in living with one another
and are not the precepts of any supreme being. Here we
find emphasis on the evolutionary aspect of morality.
This too contributes to our philosophy.
Experience Is Our Guide
Gradually men have learned to test the truth of their no
tions by experience. Within recent centuries this practi
cal good sense has developed into the scientific method, a
method which has served the interests of mankind more
successfully, more humanely, and therefore in a sense more
spiritually, than any other. Within the past century some
of the implications of this method have become widely
known and appreciated. Most citizens of the technically
advanced countries have at least a vague faith in the prac
tical results of scientific method. However, there have
never been many who perceived how much value there
was in using this method in one s own daily life, or in the
building of a living philosophy. Those who were able to
see it as a major tool in their total adjustment of life have
been, to that extent, in the humanist tradition.
And So Humanism
By the twentieth century, scientists, impelled by their
own kind of interest in the world around them had been
carrying on a quiet revolution. They had built up for us
24 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
an entirely different picture of the universe and of our
place in it from that which had been accepted in the
Middle Ages.
The established religions Christianity, Mohammed
anism, Judaism, and to some extent Buddhism and Hin
duism had been built around a static picture. The
new picture is so different that many have been repelled
or have not been able to bring themselves to accept it. It
was the impact of this new knowledge, however, which
brought about the transformation of humanism into a
relatively clear-cut body of ideas and into an organized
movement. Humanism developed as scattered individuals
and small groups realized thatJhey had a common bond
. /W***- CXXXA^I^^A^
in their tfemrngli, imgradgmg alieeptanee af this new
knowledge and its implications for men s lives.
Let us consider certain of the changes brought about in
scientific knowledge during the past few centuries.
The earth, this globe of ours, once proud center of the
divine handiwork, has lost considerably in geographical im
portance. Even our sun, itself several hundred thousand
times the size of the earth, is found to be but an average-
sized star on the edge of a nebula of perhaps 30 billion
other stars. Beyond there are even other nebulae!
The earth, once thought to have been planned and cre
ated about 4000 B.C., is now known to have a far longer
history. While it is uncertain how many millions of years
ago the earth came into being, it has reached its present
condition through gradual change and is still in process of
evolution.
And man, once center, master, and darling of the uni
verse for whom all else was created, has had to take a more
humble position. Men appear to have evolved from lower
FORERUNNERS OF HUMANISM 25
forms of life and to differ from these less than had been
supposed. Moreover, the findings of science reveal that
each of us is an inseparable unity of body and personality,
of mind and emotions. The soul, long thought to be
man s unique possession, has evaporated into nothingness.
When the impact of this new picture was felt, the impli
cations seemed staggering. How could people accept the
new view of man and his universe? We had lost our
security, our importance, we who had been the favorite
sons of the creator! We who were made for a special
destiny! Some even feared that our most precious human
goals, purposes, ideals, lost importance in this new world.
But these implications did not stagger the humanists of
thirty years ago. They had a solid faith in man. To
them men needed no privileged position in the scheme of
things. Having a genuine respect for, and interest in,
human purposes and human ideals for their own sakes,
they were not upset to find that these are not linked up
with any great purposes of the universe as a whole.
Far from shrinking from the implications of biology,
anthropology, astronomy, psychology, paleontology, and
physiology, they made them the basis of their thinking.
They built up from them the philosophy and religion of
humanism.
The sociologist Frank H. Hankins regards humanism as
a logical step in the human venture:
Sociological and historical researchers have shown that the
essential core of religion is devotion to those social values
which bind men together in cooperative effort for group pres
ervation and mutual welfare; and that these values are dis
covered through human experiences. Among those discovered
in recent times are devotion to truth as exemplified in the
HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
scientific mentality, the dignity of individual man, and the
ideals of democracy. Humanism thus becomes the next logi
cal step in religious evolution; it is the heir and creative ful
fillment of the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the demo
cratic revolutions.
CHAPTER THREE
Some Basic Beliefs
The Fundamental Premise
Basic to humanism is a particular approach to the world
about us to the physical and psychological environ
ments. This approach or method is considered more im
portant than any conclusions reached by using it. For
knowledge is continually increasing. Conclusions about
many things in this world have to change as knowledge
grows. It is necessary to remain open-minded and often
to suspend judgment. When we form a conclusion it is
important that we dojootJEorce it upon other people.
Whereas in most other religions and in some philosophies
certain matters have been laid down, accepted on faith
and held to be true for all time, this is not true in human
ism. We hold in high regard the scientific method the
constant search for information and the willingness to
change opinions as facts warrant. Except when he is talk
ing of ethical values the humanist makes few assertions.
To clarify further the difference between the method
of which we speak and the one used by those who accept
on faith, Frances R. Dewing has written, in a letter to the
authors:
One of the essential things about scientific method is an
open mind, critical only of the quality of the evidence, and a
28 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
readiness to accept any conclusions. With this goes an eager
ness to find the principles that can be used to give us success
ful dealings with our objective experiences. These principles
as long as they work are what we call truth.
Contrasted with this basis for truth which assumes depend
ence on reasoning power there is truth by authority per
sonal, organizational or "by the book."
This cleavage of method is a more fundamental cleavage
than cleavage according to items of conclusions, especially as
by our method any conclusion is conceivably possible. The
only negative allowable is the denial of the right of any other
person to assert a statement without showing reasons espe
cially to assert truth for others dogmatically.
In some ways we wish we could end the manuscript at
this point. That might leave dissatisfaction, however, as
more questions than ever may have been raised and left
unanswered.
Humanists generally hold views on mind, heaven, im
mortality, essences, and the ideal, which are hard for anti-
naturalists and Christians to understand. Some of these
concepts will be discussed later on, but here we wish to
point out that they are not the heart of the fourth faith.
In fact, ideas of sin, the ideal, immortality, and deity are
considered rather unimportant and are seldom discussed.
Points of General Agreement
How we believe is more important than what we believe.
Because we use the scientific method we recognize that
even our most central beliefs may have to change in the
light of further evidence.
It would be strange if thoughtful and independent
people did not have differences of opinion as to what are
the most significant ideas in their common philosophy. It
would be strange if there were no real disagreements as
SOME BASIC BELIEFS 2Q
to implications and emphases. The fourth faith, many-
faceted, humane, experimental, has room within it for
many varieties of opinion.
On some points, however, there is general agreement.
Let us consider certain significant ones:
(1) Men are, in every respect, a part of nature. They
are a natural product of the evolutionary process.
(2) Men, like all other living things, must rely upon
themselves, upon one another, and upon nature. There
is no evidence that they receive support or guidance from
any immaterial power with whom they are presumed to
commune.
(3) Men are able to meet the challenge of life in con
stantly more satisfying ways provided they are able to
make full use of their capacities.
(4) The spiritual meaning of life is that which we give
to it. Happiness and self-fulfillment for oneself and others
are richly sufficient life goals.
(5) Moral codes are made by men. Values and ideals
grow out of human experience.
(6) The supreme value is the individual human being.
Each person, of whatever race or condition, is of equal
worth. Laws, governments and other institutions exist
for the service of men, and are justifiable only as they con
tribute to human well-being.
Because he believes in the capabilities of men to solve
their problems, because he has confidence in the scientific
method, in experience, in knowledge, and in the natural
creative processes of the universe, the humanist feels that
mankind can successfully continue to make better todays
and build toward a better tomorrow.
CHAPTER FOUR
Answers to Some Common
Questions
Are Humanists Agnostics?
Most humanists are agnostics although some are atheists.
But not all agnostics and atheists are humanists.
Most humanists are agnostics for they neither affirm nor
categorically deny the existence of God. They do not
have what James H. Leuba called " a God to whom one
may pray in the expectation of receiving an answer."
Professor Leuba added, " By answer I mean more than
the subjective, psychological effect of prayer." They find
no evidence in the universe of any non-human personality
which is concerned for the welfare of men. And there
fore the question of the existence of a non-human person
ality is an open one. They feel that where it is perhaps
impossible to know, or where we do not know definitely,
it is best not to be dogmatic in either direction.
They recognize that God is thought of in a wide variety
of ways. The term God is applied by some people to
nature, by others to love, by others to goodness in men,
and by still others to the grand design the way things
work in the universe. A humanist does not reject imper
sonal ideas of God, but he suggests that there are better
ways of expressing these aspects of nature.
ANSWERS TO SOME COMMON QUESTIONS 3!
Although humanists have either an agnostic or atheistic
point of view, it does not follow that all agnostics and
atheists could be described as humanists. Agnosticism or
atheism is a relatively unimportant part of humanist re
ligion and philosophy. Many humanists dislike the labels
of atheism and agnosticism on account of their possible
negative implication. What they do not believe in counts
relatively little for them; it is what they do believe in and
how and why they believe this that makes them humanists.
Thomas Huxley, great champion of evolution, was the
first to call himself an agnostic. He was among the first to
express forcefully the idea that since we cannot know
definitely about such matters as God and immortality we
should base our thinking and behavior on that which we
can know, such as life on earth, human need.
Harold R. Rafton, founder and president of the Hu
manist Fellowship of Boston, when asked, " Do you believe
in a supreme being? " replied, " Emphatically yes, and
that supreme being is man." Humanists are careful, how
ever, to point out that this does not mean prideful self-
worship of man by man, because humanists do not worship
in the traditional sense. To be sure, the fulfilment of
human life is their highest value and their goal. But they
realize that this fulfilment is dependent upon men s rela
tionship with nature as a whole. They know that nature
and its laws very largely set the course and determine the
goals men must seek to be fully men. Their needs, their
hopes are developed in interaction with nature.
How Do Humanists Use the Bible?
Humanists find inspiration in the scriptures of Bud
dhism, Confucianism, Mohammedanism, Christianity, and
other religions. Many humanists are students of the
3 2 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
Bible, and hold it in high regard. The story of the his
torical progression of the people in Asia Minor from be
lief in a tribal god to belief in a world God serves as great
inspiration. The Bible, however, is not regarded as a
final authority in matters of belief and morals.
Why Do Humanists Respect Jesus?
Most of them think of Jesus as a great if not the greatest
ethical leader who has ever lived. To the work of the
previous Jewish prophets he added a special insistence on
the place of love, kindness, and forgiveness in human life.
Humanists do not attribute divinity to him but find in
spiration in his life and teachings. They believe that the
way of life taught by Jesus has been obscured by creeds
and rituals and that fundamentally his teachings were
concerned with human relations and with the daily prac
tice of the social virtues.
What Is the Humanist Basis for Morality?
It is found in the study of nature and man. Actions are
^ evaluated in terms of their consequences.
The humanist usually looks with favor on the ethical
codes of the traditional religions, but points out that in
different cultures there are wide differences of opinion as
to what is moral.
Some traditional religions are chiefly interested in estab
lishing right relations with God. Humanism is concerned
that through intelligent cooperation men live a good life
and lessen poverty, war, disease, and prejudice. The wel
fare of each of us is dependent on the welfare of all. Men
do not have to believe the same things but they need to
ANSWERS TO SOME COMMON QUESTIONS gg
recognize their common humanity and the common hu
man aspects of their beliefs.
What Do Humanists Think about the Soul?
We are constantly learning new facts from scientists
about the interrelationships of mind and body. More is
ever being revealed as to how wonderfully sensitive and
intricate the human nervous system is. It is becoming
more and more unnecessary to explain our best thought
and feeling as the result of an inner light. At this time
there just does not seem to be any evidence of, or any need
for, an immaterial soul.
In the works of Robert G.. Ingersoll, brilliant agnostic
of a half-century ago, can be found a general survey of
the areas wherein traditional religious concepts no longer
fit the world as men are coming to know it through study
and investigation.
What Do Humanists Think about Immortality?
Immortality implies the existence of a soul, a soul which
can be separated from the body. We know of no human
ists who believe in a dualism of soul and body.
Edwin H. Wilson has said:
The Humanist lives as if this world were all and enough.
He is not otherworldly. He holds that the time spent on the
contemplation of a possible after-life is time wasted. He fears
no hell and seeks no heaven, save that which he and other
men create on earth. He willingly accepts the world that
exists on this side of the grave as the place for moral struggle
and creative living. He seeks the life abundant for his neigh
bor as for himself. He is content to live one world at a time
and let the next life if such there may be take care of it-
34 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
self. He need not deny immortality; he simply is not inter
ested. His interests are here.
Humanists do believe most thoroughly, however, in the
kind of immortality which flows from the effects of actions,
effects which often continue long after we have perished.
Was Our Country Founded on the Belief in God?
No. Lyman Hinckley has said:
Thomas Paine was the leading author, Thomas Jefferson
the leading statesman, Washington the leading soldier, and
Franklin the leading diplomat in the founding of our nation.
Every one of them was a freethinker in Christian terms, an
infidel.
Although one might object that these men were per
haps deists rather than freethinkers, it is well to remember
that at the time they lived deists were considered little
different from those without any belief. We do know
that these particular early Americans were not interested
in identifying the government of the new country with a
religious concept of any kind.
At the Constitutional Convention it was voted after
some discussion that the word God would not have a place
in the Constitution. George Washington while president
signed in the name of the United States this statement:
" The Government of the United States is not in any sense ,
founded on the Christian religion." Our country has be
come strong partly through the foresight of our founding
fathers.
It is discouraging to see a man such as Congressman
Rabaut of Michigan try to change the pledge of allegiance
to the flag by proposing to insert after " one nation " the
phrase " under God." As Elmer Davis in the August 1953
ANSWERS TO SOME COMMON QUESTIONS g5
issue of Harper s points out, there is no historical evidence
that only a believer in a theological religion can have faith
in freedom, in self-government, in democracy.
Do Humanists Go to Church?
Some do and some do not. Wherever there is a liberal
church congregation it is likely to include one or more pro
fessed humanists. Among organized religious groups one
is most likely to find humanists in Ethical Culture societies,
in Unitarian, Universalist, Episcopal, and Congregational
churches. There are also many in liberal Jewish and
Quaker congregations.
Meetings of humanist groups are not considered church
meetings. Some of these groups are, however, very little
different from liberal religious organizations.
Do Humanists Have Ministers?
There is no officially organized humanist ministerial
group. Churches which are primarily humanist, although
not so named, have ministers belonging to some denomi
nation often Unitarian or Universalist. Executive sec
retaries, leaders, or counselors are used by various human
ist groups. None of these coordinators function in the
leader-follower relationship. Some counselors perform
marriages ajid conduct funeral services, but authorization
to do this depends upon complying with regulations of
various states. Alfred E. Smith, as counselor of the Hu
manist Fellowship of Boston, represents a new type of
religious leadership emerging in the movement.
Do Humanists Oppose Ceremonies and Rituals?
No. Ritual and symbolism help some persons to feel
more deeply. For them these things make philosophy and
36 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
belief more vivid and provide emotional and esthetic
satisfactions.
Humanists, however, have tended to shy away from sym
bols for they have noticed how often in the past these have
become fixed forms and more meaningful than the things
which they originally represented. They feel that symbols
should not be mistaken for that which they symbolize.
They are saddened to watch them acquire a meaning of
their own and lose their significance as human expressions
of work, growth, abundance, family, death, life, fertility,
and reverence before the unity of nature.
The beauty provided by religious symbolism and ritual
has been largely lacking in humanist meetings. Among
the exceptions are the services at the Charles Street Uni-
versalist Meetinghouse in Boston where Kenneth L. Pat-
ton and his congregation use religious symbols and crea
tive rituals on a humanist basis.
Is Humanism Less Complete Than Other Religions?
No. Although lacking the rigid, fixed scriptures of an
alleged revelation, the sources of inspiration, written or
otherwise, which humanists use are very wide. This faith
draws on all the living poetry and literature that expresses
joy and hope. It cultivates the awareness of beauty and
the love of man, truth and life. These are dynamic,
ever-growing sources of feeling. Infused with these sources
of inspiration humanism offers a complete and satisfying
philosophy. It not only gives comfort and provides in
spiration but it helps individuals to maintain personal
well-being and to face and solve the problems of daily
living.
ANSWERS TO SOME COMMON QUESTIONS 37
Do Humanists Claim Absolute Certainty?
No. Dogmas are avoided. As Malcolm H. Bissell, edu
cator and a vice-president of the American Humanist
Association, has said:
For the tragedy of mankind has not been written by the
searchers for the final answer, but by those who have found it.
No man ever hated his brother for doubting what he himself
could still question. No Columbus who knows what lies
beyond the horizon ventures forth to find a new world. The
fruitless battle of the sects has long since told its bitter and
bloody tale. A thousand centuries of fears and forebodings,
of priests and prayers and persecutions, have brought us only
to the inscrutable stars and the silent mountains. The gods
have not spoken; we ourselves must design the good society
of which we dream.
Is the Humanist Faith a Satisfying One?
Growing numbers of people are finding it so. There is
comfort in discovering oneself to be in a vital relationship
with nature and with one s fellows. There is a sense of
well-being which comes from cooperating with others for
the common good, in recognizing all men as brothers
whether or not they differ in their worship rituals. The
fourth faith is in harmony with the growing knowledge of
the universe and its inhabitants. As a dynamic, develop
ing point of view it sustains as well as stimulates. It chal
lenges us to live according to the highest ideals of the hu
man race.
Has Humanism Sacrificed AH Sense of Assurance?
For some people the revealed certainty of the traditional
religions has no counterpart in the humanist faith. Others
feel differently.
g8 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
If humanists are without a dependable fatherly being
who will protect them against nature, they realize that in
another sense nature itself is dependable. As men study
their environment, it becomes more and more predictable
and less and less frightening. As men understand and co
operate with nature they flourish. Ours is the assurance
that no event, no experience, is necessarily mysterious.
There is a basic sort of order and explanation, if we could
but find it, for all the things that happen to us and around
us.
How satisfying it has been to countless people to know
that the universe as a whole, and we as individuals, have
come into existence " according to nature s law."
Humanism is built on the knowledge and method of
science so the humanist does not have to fear for his faith
or be forever on the defensive against advancing truth.
It gives therefore an assurance and security not available
to those whose religion is ever in retreat before the growth
of knowledge.
Do Humanists Believe the Fourth Faith Unites People?
Yes. The ethical codes of the great religions are very
much alike, although there the similarity sometimes ends.
Humanism is free from divisive doctrines about the un
known, free from rituals and ceremonies and liturgical
regulations which so often separate people and set them
apart from each other. There is no damnation, no purga
tory, no heaven, no mystical realms or essences. Human
ism is concerned with life on this wonderful earth of ours,
^he historical theologies vary, as do the ways in which
men worship, but the essence of these religions the
teaching as to the way men should behave is very much
alike in all. In humanism this good moral life is justified
ANSWERS TO SOME COMMON QUESTIONS 39
in terms o our having proper relationships with nature
and with one another. Humanists are united by their
devotion to the scientific spirit and democratic faith.
Do Many People Call Themselves Humanists?
It was unusual until a few years ago for anyone who was
not very successful, and lacked ability to stand up against
religious prejudice and possible occupational discrimi
nation, to admit that he was a humanist. This is chang
ing rapidly. More and more people are becoming tired
of masquerading as Protestants, Catholics, and Jews, or
of assuming they are entirely without religious feeling.
It is a growing practice to write " humanist " rather than
" none " when questionnaires ask for one s religion.
Is the Humanist Movement Organized?
Only to a limited extent. Humanist leaders have tended
to lean over backward in their concern that the fourth
faith acquire none of the characteristics of a cult or a
traditional religion. The American Humanist Associa
tion, with headquarters at Yellow Springs, Ohio, is the
leading humanist organization in this country. It does
vital educational work and is indispensable to the growth
of the movement. There are more than forty groups which
are affiliated with the A. H. A. in some manner or other.
There are chapters, there are independent humanist fel
lowships, and there are study groups. In the Pacific Coast
states John Danz has done much toward building several
independent societies. Since the recent death of its re
markable leader C. G. Patterson, the Institute of Human
Fellowship whose world headquarters was in Portland,
Oregon, has merged with the A. H. A.
The primary work of the Association is in meeting the
40 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
desires and needs of individuals scattered throughout the
country. Some of the larger liberal churches which have
humanists among their members receive the literature of
the Association, and keep in close contact with it for help
in programming and many other ways. A significant
number of ministers and liberal rabbis are members. The
Association endeavors to assist these individuals and groups
in any way it can.
Occasionally there are regional conferences in different
sections of the country. Here for two or three days people
meet and exchange viewpoints, gain knowledge, and feel
the satisfaction of talking with others interested in ideas
and in new ways of helping men adjust to their world.
The American Humanist Association has a Board of
Directors and officers. There is a paid staff and there are
volunteer part-time workers.
Do Humanists Expect Other Churches to
Close Their Doors?
No. They merely believe that the established churches
will continue to become more humanistic. They point
with pleasure to the growing concern about social condi
tions within leading churches throughout the world. They
note the liberalizing influences at work within Jewish and
Protestant groups in America and the changing attitude
of many Catholics.
Humanists question the idea that religious needs must
be met in certain ways and in those ways only.
Do Humanists Believe Their Movement Will Grow?
Yes. They believe it is only a matter of time until the
fourth faith will affect millions of lives everywhere. They
ANSWERS TO SOME COMMON QUESTIONS 41
point to its rapid growth within the past three years. And
they believe that viewpoint is in the mainstream of human
advance.
A few humanists have almost missionary zeal. They are
among those who may have recalled the words of Buddha,
" The world is undone, quite undone, when the heart of
the truth seeker inclines to rest quiet, rather than pro
claim his doctrine/
Many Unitarian, Universalist, and other liberal churches
are tending ever more toward the humanist position. In
other countries millions of people are ready to take up
this new religion of humanity.
Ten years ago active interest in humanism was largely
confined to men and women who were making substantial
contributions to the arts, sciences, and philosophy. Less
than ten years ago it was estimated that a third of the
members of the American Humanist Association were in
cluded in " Who s Who in America," or " Who s Who in
Science." Today there is a higher percentage of less emi
nent though thoughtful people. A number of men and
women in their twenties and thirties are vigorously spread
ing knowledge of the fourth faith. For them it is a
glorious adventure in personal understanding and devel
opment. These include such energetic humanists as Tay
lor Rhodes, Paul Schwenneker, James V. Grasso, Warren
Allen Smith, William F. Lennon, Jr., Robert Quest, Wil
liam H. Stalnaker, Howard Cox, Jean Jackson Kirsch-
baum, Robert Kelso, Abraham Pollock, William James
Hall, Melvin W. Berg, and Harold Rightmyer.
CHAPTER FIVE
How Humanism Meets
Personal Needs
Three Basic Needs
Philosophy and religion serve people in various ways.
For some individuals these meet many of their psycholog
ical needs, for others very few. But it can be agreed that
in almost all instances philosophy and religion offer at
least to some extent a means of comfort and self-respect,
a source of ethical standards, and a wellspring of inspira
tion, and that by so doing they fulfill fundamental needs.
Most people would concede that the older religions
offer these satisfactions. How do the ideas which are at
the core of the fourth faith give comfort, give ethical
standards, give inspiration?
Mental and Emotional Security
Religions in the past have given us a very comfortable
position in the universe. We had the reassurance of know
ing that we were in contact with a power beyond nature
which gave the human race love and protection. Like
those who sponsored the appeal for funds after the 1953
tornado in Worcester, Massachusetts, by saying, " Remem
ber, God spared you/ we knew that the Almighty had us
constantly in mind.
HOW HUMANISM MEETS PERSONAL NEEDS 43
Today we still need some kind of basic reassurance
about our relationship to the world in order to know that
we have a place, that we are accepted. Most of the time
our friends, our family, our work, give us some sense of
belonging. However, for many of us there are times when
these are not enough, when we have to turn elsewhere for
security. Then, perhaps feeling lonely and unwanted,
we draw renewed courage and comfort from a reassuring
picture of ourselves in relation to God, or to a larger whole
the universe, the world, or humankind.
How can humanism give this kind of picture? How
can a philosophy which questions whether there is any
unique concern for the human race either in nature or
beyond it give religious and philosophical reassurance?
Humanism teaches first that there is an intrinsic, in
alienable value in all human beings. This is not a value
that has been given us by a deity or that we hold only be
cause we have earned it. It is our birthright. We can
have a mystical and poignant depth of feeling about this.
At the very heart of our philosophy is a warmly genuine
sense of the value in every man, whatever his ability, how
ever he is circumstanced.
This can be the foundation for an invulnerable sense
of self-respect. The feeling of security that comes to one
who has this kind of self-respect enables him to withstand
the incidence of misfortune, and of disgrace. It even
stands firm against those savage attacks that we sometimes
level at ourselves. This kind of feeling about oneself is
still appropriate no matter into what shameful mess one
has become involved.
Secondly, humanism encourages us to feel that no mat
ter who we are we have untapped abilities, unknown
44 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
potentialities, and more strength, inventiveness, and genius
for survival and progress than we know. We are to look
for strength not outside ourselves but within. Erich
Fromm, in his book Psychoanalysis and Religion, speaks
of the value of having a faith in the power within ourselves
to meet life with courage. Some philosophies and reli
gions stress how weak, how evil, and how foolish we are
by nature. Although they offer a way of overcoming this
lack of strength, virtue, and wisdom, they first impress on
us our deficiencies. How much better it is to emphasize
hope and self-confidence. How much better to believe
that we must and can take care of ourselves.
Thirdly, it teaches us to look for courage, for comfort,
to one another, our fellow humans, of whom there are
some two and a quarter billion. A humanist is like the
soldier who feels an exhilarating interdependence with his
comrades when faced with a common danger. We all
have experienced the pleasantness of a sense of closeness
with a group of strangers when we suffered some minor
mishap together, for instance the breakdown of a subway
train between stops. Why can not this satisfying sense of
solidarity be called up in all of us by the realization that
humankind can expect no special dispensation from the
universe? Is it not stimulating and comforting to acknowl
edge our dependence on one another?
Finally, for many humanists their deepest sense of secu
rity comes from feeling themselves an integral part of na
ture. A. Eustace Haydon has expressed this beautifully:
The humanist has a feeling of perfect at-homeness in the
universe. He is conscious of himself as an earth child. There
is a mystic glow in this sense of belonging. Memories of his
long ancestry still ring in muscle and nerve, in brain and
HOW HUMANISM MEETS PERSONAL NEEDS 45
germ cell. Rooted in millions of years of planetary history,
he has a secure feeling of being at home, and a consciousness
of pride and dignity as a bearer of the heritage of the ages
and a growing creative center of cosmic life.
This sense of belonging comes to those who realize that
we are in every respect a part of nature a nature far
larger, far older, than ourselves.
All through history men have been eager to have a close
relationship with the nonhuman world about them. Hu
manism makes this relationship obvious and logical. We
feel a myriad of ties with other living creatures. We feel
an enriching expansion of sympathy and interest. Liv
ing things are fellow experiencers of life, knowing fears
of rejection and injury, the satisfactions of acceptance,
warm sun, good food. We do not claim special privileges
and are ready to face, with other living creatures, the full
force of the joys and tragedies of life and death.
In years past many of nature s processes were considered
entirely unpredictable and strange. The gods served as
special protection against a nature often cruelly hostile.
Now that we are learning through science the chains of
cause and effect underlying many of these events, they
tend to seem less mysterious, less frightening. The idea
that there is a kind of basic coherence behind occurrences
gives a measure of security. As Ruth T. Abbott often
says, there is a strong, deep certainty in nature s laws.
In these several ways humanism gives a sense of security.
Certain privileges have been given up but in their place
we have gained self-reliance and a closer bond with our
fellow humans and with the universe.
46 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
Ethical Standards
A second need felt by humans is for a standard of be
havior, for ethics. Behind many of the moral codes of the
past has been the pressure, the force, of eternal laws, eter
nal rewards and punishments. How does humanism build
its ethics and standards of behavior, how does it enforce
them?
Ethics in the humanist view is largely the responsibility
we have for the happiness of others. There are no in
flexible rules in personal ethics, for what will be ethical
in one situation will not necessarily be so in another.
The question of right and wrong is a very practical one.
How will behavior affect the well-being of others at a
particular time and place?
Our precious social virtues cannot be pressed into the
character of individuals by precepts or by authority. We
should act honestly, justly, considerately because we feel
that this is the natural, the necessary way to behave.
A sturdy basis for ethical behavior is self-respect. The
humanist knows that if he is of value, so are others; if he
has a right to happiness, self-fulfilment, so have others.
And self-respect develops when an individual achieves
personal maturity, when he understands his strengths and
limitations, and recognizes the position of men and women
in the scheme of things.
Dr. Rudolf Dreikurs, a psychiatrist and a vice-president
of the American Humanist Association, has expressed
this thought in two of his " Ten Premises for a Humanist
Philosophy of Life/ He says:
Man s greatest obstacle to full social participation and co
operation is an underestimation of his own strength and
value. . . . Man s greatest evil is fear. Courage and belief in
HOW HUMANISM MEETS PERSONAL NEEDS 47
his own ability are the basis for all his virtues. Through his
realization of his own value he can feel belonging to others,
and be interested in others.
There are deep in this philosophy many ideas which
encourage one to feel thus connected with, and interested
in, other people.
Humanists gain a bond with others when they recognize
that men must and can help one another in common prob
lems, against common obstacles.
The fourth faith also provides us the strongest possible
motive for kindliness and consideration, for justice and
honesty. If we believe there will be no second chance in
a future life to make up to family, friends, and acquaint
ances for the difficulties and unhappiness which we
cause them, and if we believe there is no future of bliss
for them but that this life we share is all they will ever
know, it becomes crucial that we do what we can to make
this existence a happy one.
We are not quick to condemn the simpler, more ele
mentary enjoyments. We do not think of these as un
important or debased. We do not suggest that the pleas
ures from, say eating a Maine lobster dinner, or of sunning
on the beach, ate not worth much. Happiness is a great
good and we should accept it where and when it is offered
to us.
Because we do not make the distinction between an
admirable soul and a less admirable body, we do not sep
arate ourselves into two parts. One part of ourselves is
not respected while another part is scorned. We seek
the best development of the whole personality. We refuse
to set up fierce battles between impulse and conscience
and therefore there is no endless inner struggle between
good and evil. The normal sex drive, for instance, is
48 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
not thought of as evil in itself. Like all basic human
needs it is not intrinsically wrong but does harm when not
directed toward socially useful goals.
Accounts given by anthropologists of ethics in regions
as varied as Samoa, Togoland, and England are more
than merely entertaining. They show that what is con
sidered right behavior with respect to one s neighbor or
one s sister-in-law is different in various parts of the world.
Our standards of behavior have grown up, slowly and
painfully, from the particular experiences of the group
into which we happen to be born.
Aubrey Menen, writing in the July 4, 1953, issue of
The New Yorker, tells us that until very recently any
married woman in Malabar who wore clothes above her
waist was considered to be aiming at adultery. It was un
thinkable for a cultured adult to sit eating with another,
for this would require putting food into the mouth, chew
ing, and swallowing in public. As for sitting in one s
own dirty bath water never!
Yet societies have traditionally felt the need not only
for codes of behavior but for some kind of superhuman,
eternal justification for them. There has been widespread
belief that what is right and what is wrong must be eter
nally right and wrong and right and wrong for all. It has
often been thought that unless people believe this they
will think lightly of codes and standards.
However, the realization that ethics are built up by men
for the use of men is in ntf respect dangerous. Isn t there
something appealingly practical and wholesome in the no
tion that good behavior is that which leads to human wel
fare? This point of view seefift "tlie best kind of justifica
tion of and encouragement to honesty and unselfishness.
HOW HUMANISM MEETS PERSONAL NEEDS 49
When a code of behavior is thought to be handed down
from a greater power, one obeys from reverence or from
fear. There is often the added incentive of punishment
or reward. Humanists do not have these forms of persua
sion. They like the ones they have the expectation
that people will want to follow those standards which
have proved best for the general good, and the recognition
that an individual who is mature in body, mind, heart,
and spirit is eager to work for the common welfare.
And many humanists see beneath all differences in cus
toms and codes a common denominator. They see the
principle of mutual aid as a law of survival.
This, then, is humanist ethics.
Inspiration
We need more than ethics, more than comfort, from a
philosophy or religion. We need inspiration. We need
to express the upreaching and inspiring impulse in hu
man life. We hunger for beauty.
Inspired by an idea or by a symphony of sensory im
pressions we feel alive. Our senses dance, our spirits soar.
The crusts of routine and monotony are cracked. The
concerns of everyday life are seen in a new perspective,
seen in terms of what is supremely worthwhile. Life
takes on a new meaning. A thoroughly inspirational idea
also leads to some kind of purposeful behavior. One is
not only inspired but inspired to act in an unaccustomed
direction or to be a different kind of person.
There is a deeply inspirational quality in humanism.
Many are drawn to the fourth faith because it has power
to inspire them as nothing else does.
This may seem to be a paradox. How, one could ask,
50 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
can a point of view inspire which questions whether there
is any absolute and preordained meaning to human exist
ence? How can a philosophy inspire which doubts that
man has a role to play in a moral drama transcending
life and death?
Yet it is these very ideas which seem deeply, obviously
inspirational to humanists. Alfred E. Smith, in a lecture
to the Humanist Fellowship of Boston, expressed this
feeling:
When you have arrived at the humanist perspective of life,
fully realizing that in all the universe there is no concern for
man excepting man s concern for himself, no meaning to life
except the meaning which man himself gives to life, no reason
or excuse for existence except the possibility that man can
make existence worth while when you have that perspective,
that realization, then there comes to you an urgency to do
everything you can to make your life more meaningful, more
joyous, more worthwhile.
Many years ago John Dietrich put this idea into other
words for his Minneapolis congregation:
Although the universe cares not about our ideals and our
morality, we must care for them. All the virtues and all the
values, all there is of goodness and justice, kindliness and cour
tesy is of our own creation and we must sustain them, or
otherwise they will go out of existence.
And further,
Against the terrifying background of an uncaring universe,
we may each set a triumphant soul that has faced facts with
out dismay, and knowing good and evil, chosen good.
Many humanists would maintain that here too sharp
a line has been drawn between men and the rest of nature.
They would remind us that our aspirations and our ideals
are related to those larger laws that govern all natural
HOW HUMANISM MEETS PERSONAL NEEDS 51
things. They might point out that any meaning to life
which a man may discover satisfies him just because it is
in harmony with the laws of nature. But this is a matter
of emphasis, of difference in response. For some of us it
is the idea of our human isolation and independence
which seems particularly meaningful; for others, it is the
idea of our interdependence with the nonhuman world.
What unites humanists is the conviction that it is to our
selves we must look if we wish to find a master plan by
which to shape and give direction to our lives. There is
no realm, no force, no personality beyond nature which
is the source of meaning and value or which leads us and
directs us. Nor is there a special group of religious or
philosophical leaders in control of the keys to human vir
tue and human happiness. We must find them for our
selves.
The reason, of course, why this conviction inspires
rather than discourages is confidence that we can do this.
The humanist sees a worthwhile job to be done and he
believes that he can do it. Little wonder he feels inspired.
He has been given a challenge.
For further inspiration he turns to those fundamental
ideas which have given him comfort, security, and self-
respect.
His sense of unity with all mankind has at times a mys
tical quality. It can also be exhilarating. The well-loved
phrase, "All men are brothers," has a particular force,
a special ring. The humanist is keenly aware of the plight
of homo sapiens, a species which although a part of nature
has risen through agelong evolution to a position differ
ent from and set apart from other species. A. Eustace
Haydon describes humankind as " the only thinking things
52 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
in all the vastness of time and space. Alone here for a
moment between birth and death, a spectacle so pitiful, so
tragic and so grand." It is against this stark picture of
man s isolated place in the world, of his sensitivities, his
powers, that the humanist sees all members of our human
race wherever they may be in Cairo, in Paris, or in
Houston. He identifies himself with all people for he
sees their problems as human problems. He is completely
and irrevocably committed to the human adventure.
The humanist is filled with wonder and admiration at
the creature that is man, at his capacity for accomplish
ment, for sacrifice, at the intricacy and precision of that
nervous system which has made it possible for him to
stand where he does today in nature s hierarchy. He is
convinced that if we use to an ever greater extent our
unique capacities for discovery and for cooperation the
future of our race will be a brilliant and a happy one.
Most humanists are moved by the constant realization
that men are children of nature in every fiber of their be
ing, in every fleeting thought. Both exaltation and hu
mility spring from knowing that we live out our lives
within a great enveloping process far larger, far older,
than ourselves. Many people feel this is the very heart of
their life philosophy. Ruth T. Abbott says: " Our re-
latedness to the whole of nature is our strength and our
source of ethics and our fire in being." Certainly if we
consider man s fascinating relation to the universe, we are
both lifted up and humbled, both disciplined and sup
ported.
Where can one find more astonishing and ironic para
dox, more poetry, more mystery than in this relationship?
Nature tenderly provides us with the most delicate and
HOW HUMANISM MEETS PERSONAL NEEDS 53
precise of apparatus for our health and survival. It does
the same for the mosquito and the tubercle bacillus.
Humankind is lifted to ecstasy by sunset color on moun
tain peaks and is sickened with disgust by decaying flesh.
Our species feels gratitude for warm sun and clean water,
despair before tornadoes and burning droughts. Human
ists, freed from the necessity of thinking that the natural
world was created for human satisfaction or edification
are able to take nature as it comes. Knowing that men
are fools to expect any special consideration, we are spared
the shock of disillusionment and are unencumbered by
the notion that nature rewards those we call good and
punishes those we call evil. We are freed from bitterness
and can feel a single-minded, wholehearted joy and inter
est in the beautiful, the orderly, and the awesome aspects
of the universe.
Yet for all our calm objectivity we happily confess a
connectedness with nature so close that it is almost com
plete identification. Our most dramatic aesthetic and in
tellectual triumphs are as much the products of natural
processes as the dams of beavers or the hives of bees. For
us the really exciting and fascinating paradox lies in the
fact that for all our efforts to be objective, we cannot set
ourselves apart, for in a sense we ourselves are nature.
The meaning of the word " nature " is expanded to in
clude all those most delicate, subtle, and noble of our aspi
rations that hitherto men have been loath to admit as
belonging to the natural world. To us and this is per
haps the most difficult thing for the nonhumanist to
understand the effect of putting men in nature is not
their debasement but the addition to nature of an exciting
new dimension.
54 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
We look upon evolution of living things as one of the
elemental processes in this grand integrated whole. We
feel that men can now play a decisive role in this process.
Man s imagination, his use of symbols, his ability to or
ganize yesterday s experience into tomorrow s dream, set
him above all other levels of life. On account of this
he not only adapts himself to nature, but he is able to
fashion or recreate parts of the natural world about him.
Cora L. Williams in Creative Involution gave an inspir
ing picture of the human race as master of the evolution
ary process. Philosophers of science have seen great hope
for the future if men will awake to the possibilities of
directing evolution by human knowledge, human good
will.
Inspired by a sense of solidarity with his fellows, by
bright confidence in the future of the human adventure,
and by his relation with nature, the humanist is eager for
the practical challenge with which life confronts him.
For most of us this challenge has lain chiefly in the role
that we might play in the building of a better community,
a finer nation, a happier world.
Increasing numbers are also thinking of what their rich
and varied philosophy means in terms of personal living.
When all is said and done, it is the individual and the in
dividual s own life that matters.
Humanism teaches two things which seem at first con
tradictory but which actually complement and strengthen
each other. It teaches us on the one hand how deeply
involved we are with nature and with our fellow human
beings. On the other hand it encourages us to be in
dependent and self-reliant. We cannot play our part well
and responsibly unless we are spiritually weaned. Yet
HOW HUMANISM MEETS PERSONAL NEEDS 55
we become more fully developed only through social re
lationships.
Erich Fromm, Rudolf Dreikurs, Harry A. Overstreet,
and others have made clear how important it is for one
to be free, to be independent. They show that only as
one has self-respect can one have wholesome love for
others, can feel concern for others, can live adequately
with others in our common life.
H. J. Blackham, secretary of the International Human
ist and Ethical Union, in Living as a Humanist describes
the value of active participation in life. A humanist says
"yes to life." He is ready and eager for new responsi
bilities, new human relationships, new experiences of
every kind. He takes full part in life and at the same
time full responsibility for his own past actions. On oc
casion it may be strenuous to say " yes to life." Blackham
writes:
The use and enjoyment of what life in the world offers is
not to be had by wanting, nor merely by asking, but only by
intelligent, instructed and sustained effort.
An unknown Sanskrit writer expresses the daily chal
lenge of life:
Listen to the Exhortation of the Dawn!
Look to this Dayl
For it is Life, the very Life of Life.
In its brief course lie all the
Varieties and Realities of your Existence:
The Bliss of Growth,
The Glory of Action,
The Splendour of Beauty;
For Yesterday is but a Dream,
And To-morrow is only a Vision,
But To-day well lived makes
56 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
Every Yesterday a Dream of Happiness,
And every To-morrow a Vision of Hope.
Look well, therefore, to this Day!
Such is the Salutation of the Dawn.
Humanism urges us to recognize in our personal lives
the importance of its fundamental method. Human prog
ress as a whole depends on freedom to search for the truth.
Individual progress also depends, in the same crucial way,
on a constant search for truth about oneself. Only as one
grows in self-knowledge will one become truly free. Only
as one understands one s self can life offer its deeper mean
ings and be experienced to the full.
Rollo May has pointed out that problems of modern
men and women center very often in a basic emptiness
and in indifference to themselves. Alfred E. Smith has
added:
Everything that a humanist is, everything that he is dedi
cated to, every aspect of his life, is pointed in the opposite
direction. There can be no emptiness for the man or woman
determined to explore and understand and affirm the meaning
of life.
It is clear that humanism offers comfort and support,
guidance and inspiration and a summons. In urging us to
know not only the world but ourselves it offers a quest
that will never end.
CHAPTER SIX
Applying Humanism to
Personal Problems
The General Approach
Humanism is practical. It helps us to understand com
plex situations, to solve problems and to make decisions.
If this were not true humanism could not be an adequate
way of life. Although it provides no ready-made formulas
it gives a specific point of view. This point of view makes
it easier to work problems through to solution. It pre
vents us from creating new problems in the process of
meeting old ones. This approach to difficulties is made
up of two elements.
In the first place it is a certain state of mind. This is
one of self-reliance and confidence. People and things
act as they do from perfectly natural causes. As these are
natural causes rather than occult ones there is hope of
understanding and perhaps even of controlling them.
Success or failure does not depend on the conjunction of
Mars and Jupiter on whether it is our lucky day or on
the fact that Aunt Aggie came to call. It depends on
whether we can see the chains of cause and effect leading
up to the present situation and on whether we act on the
basis of this knowledge. This is both a disciplinary and
58 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
an encouraging philosophy. We are allowed no trans
cendental alibis but we are freed from insoluble riddles.
We are encouraged to feel that there is usually some kind
of answer to a problem if we could but find it.
In the second place this approach involves reliance on
a certain method. There is willingness to use this method
on all problems whether routine or serious, clear-cut or
vague, practical or emotional. This procedure is the sci
entific method. It consists in keen observation, thorough
gathering of facts, and the careful checking of hypotheses.
It demands a mind continuously open for new knowledge
and ever reluctant to jump to conclusions.
Fixed convictions, prejudices, and dogmas are tested
against experience and the objective findings of others.
To a humanist this first step can be taken whether buy
ing a clothes dryer or deciding what one s attitude should
be toward an alcoholic relative.
The method requires that when there is time and op
portunity to gather information, as much should be col
lected as seems practicable. On the basis of this, tempo
rary conclusions can be drawn and tested. This course can
be followed alike in choosing a diet for quick reducing or
a candidate for mayor. Where there is no time for this,
as often in everyday life, we can at least keep our minds
open for new and better ways of meeting difficulties.
(That is, if we meet difficultiesi)
Problems Involving Other People
Many of the problems of everyday life are easily re
solved by coupling confidence and curiosity. We must
admit, however, that more is usually needed when there
are complex relationships with other humans.
APPLYING HUMANISM TO PERSONAL PROBLEMS 5Q
A humanist looks at problems in social relations from
a characteristic perspective. He sees them as problems in
human happiness, problems in working out what will be
best for the people concerned. He does not believe in
taking time out to ask who is or is not right or wrong.
As a practical man and as one who recognizes no hard-
and-fast categories of good and evil, he is interested in
workable solutions and happy relationships* To him
there are not good and bad people, merely good and bad
behavior and he judges behavior by its effect on others.
He approaches the situation with confidence in, and lik
ing for, the people involved. He respects the point of
view of others and realizes that they have equal right
with himself to their special slants. He is nondogmatic,
good-humored, in a word, democratic.
A humanist has more than a broad perspective. From
his kit he takes the tool of scientific method which he is
as ready to use on personal as on other problems. He
realizes that this tool is particularly useful when dealing
with human beings for each of us is psychologically com
plex and subtly different. He knows that each has in
herited a different make-up and that this bundle of char
acteristic traits has in turn been molded by very different
life experiences. He understands also how important it is
to recognize that people change. They may react very
differently when applying for their first job than when ap
plying for their first old-age pension check; they respond
differently to a domineering father-in-law than to an at
tractive secretary. The humanist concludes from this that
the reasons for people s behavior and changes in behavior
are peculiar to each person and to each person s history.
He realizes that a man often has no inkling of why he acts
60 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
as he does and that his friends often know even less
about it.
Here, if ever, is a field where the facts are complex and
hidden and where it is difficult to check on suppositions.
But armed with his point of view the humanist will hum
bly be prepared to keep his mind open for new insights.
He will refrain from laying down hard-and-fast rules as to
how friends and relatives will or should act. He will try
to understand rather than to judge.
We can easily summarize this general approach to hu
man relations. It is only by accepting people as they are
and by trying to understand them that we can live with
them successfully.
Some problems involve clear-cut disagreements, im
passes, where the people concerned are at cross purposes.
Perhaps relatives are disagreeing as to the distribution of
inherited property, or perhaps one neighbor is disputing
with another the right to keep chickens in his backyard.
(Let us assume that no one follows his impulse to flee!)
A suitable approach to these disagreements would be a
good-humored, cheerful concentration on the job of find
ing some kind of acceptable compromise rather than an
insistence that someone is wrong and to blame. Facts
would be gathered and shared. There would be great
interest in finding out what was really " eating " the vari
ous people involved and why. There would be willing
ness to explore several possible solutions and confidence
that because of the potential good will of everyone some
mutual understanding could be found.
There are times when one has to make an important
decision about another person. The method used by a
humanist consists in bringing into focus all we know
APPLYING HUMANISM TO PERSONAL PROBLEMS 6l
about this individual. But it does not necessarily end
with this. Because we have faith in people, because we
realize that they often mature with experience and learn
from their mistakes, that past actions are the result of
special circumstances, we do not make hard and inflexible
judgments on the basis of past actions alone.
A Practical Example
Let us consider a hypothetical situation where this flex
ible point of view is put into practice.
Joanne is in her second year in a college fifty miles from
her home town. Last week she met John, a boy she had
known in high school. He was wearing the uniform of a
milk company for which he now works.
Joanne hesitated when John asked her for a date. She
said she would call him in a couple of days and let him
know.
In high school she had liked John intensely and had
enjoyed being with him. But John had got into a scrape
just after graduation about two years ago. Joanne never
was sure what the whole story was but it included his be
ing held by the police after a raid on a lovers lane. John s
coupe, without the lights on, had smashed into the con
vertible of a prominent union leader s son. Somehow,
John had had to spend several days in jail because, it was
rumored, his parents were unwilling to help him, saying
he had sinned.
Joanne s parents had forbidden her to see John any
more, and had told her he was a good-for-nothing. John
had had to go to work to pay for the collision damages
and hadn t gone on to college.
Joanne, after this chance meeting, got to thinking
6s HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
whether she should follow her desire and make the date.
She tried to consider the matter in its total framework.
In her reading she had come across the thought that
" nothing is more certain in modern society than that
there are no absolutes."
Are not laws and codes and customs as well as institu
tions made for humans and not the other way around?
And what human good or end would be served by not
associating with John?
Then Joanne thought of another principle: that we
have an inherent capacity for development. We grow
and change. What is true at one time may not be so at
another.
John, as any other human, is neither all good nor all
bad. And, after all, what is meant by good or bad as ap
plied to a person? There is no quality of goodness or bad
ness within people. Each person behaves in many differ
ent ways ways which have different consequences.
Joanne frowned when she thought for a few moments
of a friend whose behavior was not high-grade but who
nevertheless felt in the clear because she regularly went
to confession.
Joanne went to the telephone and made the date.
A few days after the date Joanne s telephone rang and
her mother tearfully reported she had heard that Joanne
was seen in a movie theater with John.
Joanne was tempted to shout back some accusations
over the telephone but she caught herself and said that
she would explain everything to her parents when she saw
them at home that weekend.
This gave her additional time to think the matter out
and to ponder the varying points of view concerned, in-
APPLYING HUMANISM TO PERSONAL PROBLEMS 63
eluding that of her parents. She decided it would be fool
ishness to talk with her mother about any relativity in
morals but she could discuss other phases of the situation.
When the time came, she told her mother how hard it
was on the proverbial dog which had been given a bad
name. She pointed out that, while John s behavior may
have been bad, he did have many good qualities, and that
people do change.
Because she was interested in people as individuals, and
because she had confidence in human capacities, it was
easy for her to realize that " goodness " and " badness "
are verbal abstractions, though useful verbal shorthand
for describing how we feel about the behavior of someone
else. This little story about Joanne and John also shows
that the idea of accepting people, of trying to understand
people, involves sometimes the taking of a chance. We
take the chance that people will act as we, in our friendly
confidence, expect them to.
Living with Others
Most of the time disputes or important decisions about
people are not our main problems. Our daily concern is
our adjustment to those with whom we work and live.
Often we want more than merely to get along; we want to
build rich and happy relationships. How does a human
ist achieve these with his child, his wife, his mother-in-law,
his neighbor, his boss, his employee, yes, even his tele
vision repair man?
The humanist accepts an individual as he is. Given
this person with his particular habit patterns, his partic
ular slant on life, what is the best way of achieving a satis
factory relationship?
64 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
He would respect another s right to be different. Real
izing the complexities of humankind he would attempt
to understand. He would reroute his energies from irri
tation, boredom, or anxiety into efforts to interpret why
his cousin is so irritating, his neighbor so boring, or his
employees such bullies.
He realizes that you cannot bring happiness to those
you love unless you accept them and understand them.
He learns those things that upset, frighten, or irritate
them and he endeavors to discover why. I his wife is
nervous on high places he will not laugh at her, nor lec
ture her on how irrational and neurotic she is. He will
understand that her attitude can only change slowly as its
cause is learned, that the cure lies in large part in giving
her the feeling of being accepted.
The humanist s acceptance is not passive. He does not
see another merely as he is in his present circumstances or
state of mind of nerves, perhaps! He thinks of him as
he might be, free from those tensions, hostilities, fears,
which influence him to act as he does.
If the humanist gives those around him the kind of un
derstanding which has expectation in it, he is in turn help
ing to change their attitudes for the better.
But it is not enough to accept and to understand the
other person. We must try to accept and understand our
selves.
In any real dispute or disagreement the humanist feels
the same kind of respect for himself as he has for others.
He respects his own right to his personal point of view.
He has little interest in brooding privately on whether he
is or is not to blame for a past or present difficult situation.
APPLYING HUMANISM TO PERSONAL PROBLEMS 65
He realizes that nothing is of more importance in his
relationships with others than self-knowledge. Here as
nowhere else is the value of the scientific method vindi
cated. He knows that he can discover more about himself
than he can ever come to know of other people. He real
izes that self-knowledge will produce improvement in his
relationships more quickly than any insight he may grad
ually acquire about others. After an unnecessary quarrel,
a reunion with an old friend spoiled by awkwardness on
both sides, or after an exasperating inability to stand up
for what he believes in front of others, he can ask himself:
Why did I act as I did? This self-examination will be
more fruitful, and will have more far-reaching effect, than
any other.
Living with Oneself
Lying behind the problems of daily life there are often
deeper ones, problems of hostility and fear. These are
basic attitudes which are reactions to past experiences. In
this case the search for self-knowledge must be carried on
with more persistence and patience.
Within each of us are these fears, tensions, frustrations,
and hostilities. It is as though inner demons were urging
us to self-destruction. Such is the picture psychiatrists
have given of humankind.
To free ourselves from these hostilities and fears we
have a humanist faith which gives self-respect and security,
inspiration and independence.
As one comes to be tolerant and understanding of one
self there is increasing personal maturity. Frustrations
become fewer, hostilities lessen in intensity. Through the
66 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
application of the scientific method one is better able to
master the inner demons. Creative abilities become re
leased. One more nearly approximates the person one
might be. Deep inner problems surface and are resolved.
Anxiety, boredom, and loneliness become less frequent
callers. The individual becomes more of a person.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Applying Humanism to
Social Problems
Humanism as a Spur to Action
Humanism gives a point of view not only valid in per
sonal and psychological matters but in the social and eco
nomic situations of our time. It is a stimulus and a guide
to making better sense out of our complex, jumbled
world.
Curtis W. Reese, a former president of the American
Humanist Association, has said:
Humanism, is a philosophy ... in contrast to all forms of
fatalistic determinism as applied to human situations and all
forms of laissez f aire as applied to social situations.
Writing for the First International Congress on Human
ism and Ethical Culture, he continued:
While by its very nature, scientific religion cannot be sec
tarian, and by its understanding of the nature and purpose
of economy it cannot be partisan, yet by its role as a motivat
ing and enlightening force it can explore and pioneer, it can
judge and condemn, it can challenge and inspire. It can in
fuse laboratories and factories with the spirit of holiness. It
can throw the mantle of sacredness over the common affairs
of man, and it can make of human economy a divine adven
ture.
68 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
" Our supreme responsibility is the moral obligation to
be intelligent," according to Oliver L. Reiser. He be
lieves that this is the obligation to know what is going on
in the world and to see insofar as we can that social change
is headed in a right direction. The world is going to con
tinue to change, and those of us sufficiently stout of heart
and head can help in the grand undertaking.
If ever there was a point of view which inspires con
sidered action, and the application of theory to practice,
it is that of the fourth faith.
Consider these central ideas. We ourselves must take
responsibility for making the world a better place in
which to live; there is no being or power, called by what
ever name, to whom we can shift this task. We have the
means to improve the world through effective use of our
human abilities.
Humanism badgers us by saying that we can look only
to ourselves for help and then encourages us by saying
that we do not need any other help. What other articles
of faith are so likely to stimulate purposeful action?
The Dream
Humanists are interested in making this a better world.
There is no doubt as to that. What kind of a world are
they working toward?
They dream of a world in which people find outlets
for their energies and opportunities to use their capacities,
a world in which reasonable physical and economic needs
can be satisfied, a world enriched through widespread par
ticipation in painting, dancing, music, and the other arts.
Democratic method and scientific method will be more
often merged for in essence they are the same both are
APPLYING HUMANISM TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS 9
based on freedom to find and to weigh new courses of
action, both are opposed to giving weight to arbitrary
prestige, tradition. This improved society will not be a
soulless, mechanistic one left to the management of so-
called experts.
Most of the citizenry will be wide-awake and will take
part in arriving at group discussions and in selecting ca
pable representatives. The right to be different, to be
oneself, will be respected. People will be ready to have
more creative and scientific methods applied in the educa
tional systems. Courts, hospitals, and other institutions
will be more carefully planned to help those requiring
their services. When psychologists and social scientists
agree on ways of helping individuals and society, it will
be the practice to make use of such information. As a
result of this procedure, much of the present mystery
shrouding the questions as to how men can be more con
tent, maintain a higher level of personal activity and well-
being, and have satisfactory human interrelationships will
be dissipated.
Both amateur and professional artists will find encour
agement for creative work. The money god will have
retreated and there will be general appreciation of that
ideal whereby free time for creative expression is valued
as highly as mere pieces of silver.
Freedom for All
Whether or not one considers men as pivocs (poor in
nocent victims of circumstance) is largely a matter of
temperament. Men are beset on every side with forces
which crowd in on them. In the January i, 1949, issue of
the New Yorker that liking and respect for the individual
70 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
which is at the very heart of humanism is vividly ex
pressed:
In 1949, the individual was busy fighting to retain his status.
The tide was strongly against him. He fights for the security
of his person, for the freedom of his conscience, for the right
to speak and the right to listen and the right not to listen when
the speaking is too dull or too loud. Everywhere the indi
vidual feels the state crowding him, or the corporation crowd
ing him, or the church crowding him, or the home crowding
him. The enigma today is not the energy locked in one atom
but the strength stored in a single man the ability of this
man to survive when he is always half submerged in some
thing bigger (but not really) than he is. Here, at the end of
1948, we stretch out our mitt to this fellow.
Is it not a source for wonder that men are so magnifi
cently resilient? Deep within them is the urge to affect
circumstance, to create. The suppression of this impulse
leads to personal unhappiness and dis-ease, and in a way
to a blocking of the evolutionary process. There are psy
chological limits beyond which society and the environ
ment should not press or crowd an individual.
Above all else, perhaps, the humanist believes in free
dom; he believes that not only is it a man s right to speak
and act as he chooses within the limits of public safety
but that freedom is the means by which he can develop
his human potentialities.
Behind the humanist s convictions is the faith that life
can offer much contentment and be a satisfying experience
for those allowed self-respect and freedom. He believes
that all men are equal equal in the sense that all men
have the right to these things. For some humanists the
right of each man to his individuality, the right to be dif
ferent, is the essence of their philosophy.
APPLYING HUMANISM TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS 71
The humanist is a profound believer in protecting the
rights of all individuals, in seeing that they have equal
civil liberties. Whereas there are wide differences of
opinion as to the degree to which the state should regulate
the lives of citizens in such matters as regulation of
private industry, labor, and price and wage controls
there is no real disagreement among them over the need
of giving each citizen as much freedom as is practically
possible. They feel that the individual should express
himself as he chooses, join what groups he chooses, read
what he chooses.
We are reminded here of what Thoreau said: " If a
man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it
is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step
to the music he hears/
And remember Aldous Huxley s observation: " Among
many other things, democracy is non-interfering, is leav
ing other people alone."
Humanists are in agreement that no strong country, not
even the United States, should take advantage of its
strength to dictate to a weaker nation how it should run
its affairs. The Western world has no right to assume that
it has been ordained in the heavens to be the leader and
teacher of the Eastern world. The humanist respects all
cultures as appropriate ways in which societies have built
up reaction patterns to life. There is no one " necessarily
better " type of culture.
Social Action
Humanism s active concern for social reforms has some
times led to its being called applied Christianity. It is
true that usually where there is a vigorous effort to effect
72 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
a basic social reform, such as a court case in defense of
someone s civil liberty, there is at least one recognized
humanist actively involved.
But any conclusions regarding desirable social action
are not as important as the quality of the method used in
arriving at these conclusions. This scientific method is
basic to the humanist philosophy. Before turning to see
how this method might be employed by someone deeply
concerned with social problems, let us consider some of
the activities in which many humanists are now at work.
It is only fair to mention that some of these programs
and causes are not approved by all humanists.
(1) They encourage scientific research into the under
lying reasons for social tensions and personal ill-health.
They encourage the widespread use of new scientific
knowledge. This interest in science for humanity might
be considered particularly far-reaching and characteristic.
(2) They fight for civil liberties. They believe that
those, including Senator Joseph McCarthy, who would
limit certain phases of our civil rights, who would spread
suspicion, distrust, and dissension among ourselves, are
often unaware of the harm which results from their meth
ods. Each individual of the United States, each individual
of the world, has certain inalienable rights, and it is the
preservation and extension of these rights for which hu
manists fight.
(3) They work to lessen racial prejudices. They con
sider the barriers which separate people to be primarily
psychological. Education of many kinds is needed to com
bat the ignorance which lies behind racial hates and jeal
ousies. Where members of cultural groups appear to
have objectionable traits, these usually disappear when
APPLYING HUMANISM TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS 73
full cultural and economic opportunities are shared with
them by the rest of society.
(4) They give full support to the United Nations and
to its divisions including the United Nations Educational,
Scientific, and Cultural Organization, the World Health
Organization, and the Food and Agricultural Organiza
tion. The U.N. is not regarded as perfect but as having
accomplished great good in keeping open avenues of com
munication among nations, and in keeping alive certain
ideals. The strengthening of the U.N. will go a long way
toward lessening international tensions. Unesco keeps
alive " invisible bridges of understanding," as May Sarton
refers to them, and has furthermore started many exciting
educational and cultural projects.
(5) They work for the continued separation of church
and state. To them this separation is an underlying con
cept of our country and they exert every effort to keep it
so. Children who attend nonsegregated public school sys
tems are relatively free from religious and racial preju
dices. In some instances where children have been sepa
rated for special released-time religious classes it has been
tragic to see the resulting mounting hostilities and class
consciousness. Children discover sometimes for the first
time that they are Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, or without
religious affiliation. And the young humanist is often
forced to masquerade as a Protestant, Catholic, or Jew.
(6) They encourage all efforts to increase the world s
food supply. It is disheartening to them to see food sur
pluses destroyed when elsewhere hunger stalks. A con
trolled economy which destroys these surpluses is not
functioning for the benefit of all mankind everywhere.
(7) They work to extend understanding of the values
74 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
of planned parenthood. They do not believe in an arbi
trarily controlled parenthood but merely in the extension
to fathers and to mothers of the right to plan their own
families, to have children when they can best take care of
them and give them love and security. In two states,
Massachusetts and Connecticut, it is still illegal for a phy
sician to give advice of this kind to a woman even though
it might save her life. In certain other countries almost
no assistance is available to help people have healthy
wanted children. The right to plan one s own family has
not as yet become a universal right
(8) They work to improve health services of all kinds
and to awaken people to a recognition of the importance
of psychological factors. They advocate mental health
clinics for they realize that often a little intelligent pre
ventive therapy can avert much suffering and family
tragedy.
(9) They have a vigorous interest in continuing and
strengthening the free public school system. They resist
attempts of special groups to influence public education,
whether they be political or religious, business or labor.
Opportunities for all children should be offered on the
basis of their abilities and not on the basis of the color of
their skins or the social background of their parents. Hu
manists are concerned for the right uses of education.
They know that Germany was nearly ruined by the up
rising of the ignorant.
These nine fields have one thing in common. They
help individuals to enjoy greater freedom and well-being.
Yet not all humanists entirely agree on these or any other
courses of social action.
It is not specific social action which is the heart of the
APPLYING HUMANISM TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS 75
humanist approach to social problems. Problems are end
less for one can constantly pick out more and more of
them from the flux of human behavior. Application of
the scientific method is what is fundamental.
Humanist Principles That Bear on Social Problems
Let us pause for a moment and consider four principles
which underlie social action.
(1) Humanists believe it is the individual and his wel
fare which count. By this standard a humanist tests the
value of laws, governments, churches, customs, and other
institutions. All institutions are measured in terms of
the quality of life they promote. They are successful as
they make for better human living.
(2) Humanists express this conviction as to human
value in a strong stand on human equality. They believe
that no race, nationality, or class is innately superior.
No race, nationality, class, or other group " is inherently
qualified to ride herd over any other." As we have said
before, this does not mean that in some areas cultural pat
terns have not led to differences. Greater equality in liv
ing opportunities and conditions lessen these differences.
(3) Humanists are concerned that men be free free
to think, free to speak as they like, and free to act in
dependently. They are concerned that no one be
" pushed around " by others. They are opposed to total
itarianisms which impose arbitrary authority on individ
ual thought and conduct. They are mindful of what
Woodrow Wilson said in New York in 1912:
The history of liberty is a history of the limitations of gov
ernmental power, not the increase of it. When we resist . . .
concentration of power, we are resisting the powers of death,
76 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
because concentration of power is what always precedes the
destruction of human liberties.
(4) Humanists are convinced that through cooperation
and the intelligent use of science men can create a happier
life for all.
These convictions come naturally, of course, to those
who believe that there is intrinsic value in men and that
human happiness and welfare are the supreme goals. If
this life on earth is all we can look forward to, it is un
thinkable that we should not make life free from anxieties
and richly satisfying. By the use of our resources we can
solve most of our problems. That is almost a slogan of
humanism.
And because of faith in man s ability to meet his prob
lems, it is natural that the humanist lives vigorously. He
knows he must and can depend on the intelligent coopera
tion of men of good will to continue to remove conditions
and change attitudes which breed poverty, hunger, war,
disease, fear, and prejudice.
Tackling a Social Problem
A humanist, in tackling a social problem, would use
the scientific-democratic method. He would also envision,
while remaining open-minded, certain goals which he
could look to as a guide and check. These would be the
well-being of humankind and concern with individuals
as individuals. There are no goals over and beyond these.
To start with, information and points of view are
gathered. The most relevant are set apart. Our old
friend the scientific method is in high gear.
No matter how emotionally charged the atmosphere, no
matter how " close to home " the issue, the humanist
APPLYING HUMANISM TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS 7^
would attempt to look at it freshly, honestly, objectively.
When necessary and desirable he would make a thorough
going attempt to search out the opinions of those on dif
fering sides of the controversy.
He would try to weigh the effects of bias, of limited ex
perience. If one or another solution had been tried else
where, he would ascertain how it had worked in practice.
For example, let us say the desirability of changing tariffs
is under discussion. He would consider what actually hap
pened when tariffs were raised or lowered by our own and
other nations. Or again, in considering the treatment of
men in prisons, he would check to find out how other
states handle rehabilitation projects, disciplinary measures,
and parole problems.
The test would be: How has it worked? What have been
the results?
He will attempt to remain open-minded, flexible. He
will face squarely the truth that what works at one place,
at one time, may not work well at another place, at an
other time. He would be conscious of the complexity of
our human life, in this, the twentieth century. He would
not generalize on such a matter, say, as government own
ership of gas, water, and electric companies. He would
see that circumstances might make it an excellent policy
in one country and a very questionable one in another.
Because of this flexibility, this dislike of generalizing,
he would not be blocked or upset, for example, by hear
ing someone allege that such and such a policy is " un-
American." His interest would be in examining into
what the results of such a policy might be. How would
they affect fellow Americans? He knows that words are
dangerous though necessary tools meaning different
78 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
things to different people. Sometimes words, or the mean
ings hastily applied to them, serve to discourage us from
looking sharply into what is happening, or may happen.
What about those cases where the humanist has little
time to study or reflect, little opportunity to observe at
first hand?
In those cases, he is inclined to suspend judgment, to
make no pronouncement at all. He will have respect for
those who have taken time and pains to investigate, or
who are through training and experience fitted to make
predictions objectively and scientifically.
At this point, someone may wonder whether humanists
believe they have a monopoly on use of the scientific
method in social affairs. Certainly not.
They may, however, have a kind of advantage. For
they hold in mind two things when attacking a problem:
the well-being of all individuals and the necessity of using
the scientific method. People generally tend to be inter
ested in but one or the other of these or in other goals
entirely.
Faced with making a judgment about a political regime,
a humanist would ask: Are the citizens, as individuals,
subservient to any person, any class, any institutions? Is
there any group of citizens cut off from participating fully
in the life of the country because of national origin or
membership in any particular class or race?
So far as political party allegiance in our own country
is concerned William Heard Kilpatrick has said:
A humanist may belong to any reputable party, provided
that in his acceptance of this party affiliation he consistently
maintains his respect for human personality and its full devel-
APPLYING HUMANISM TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS 79
opment, his acceptance of democratic freedom and equality
joined with commitment to the common good, and his deter
mination to find out by the free play of intelligence what to
think and do as he faces the successive situations of life.
Tackling the Problem of Russia
Most of us will agree that there is one problem today
which affects all of us at least indirectly. This is, of course,
how the free world should act in relation to the totali
tarian Soviet Union. The question is often raised as to
what is the humanist s stand on this issue.
In a literal sense, he has none. He could not have as
in the case of such debatable questions the opinions of
intelligent individuals will always differ.
There are, however, certain points of view which are
held by most humanists regarding this question:
(1) Tyranny and oppression, no matter under what
name, what banner, are harmful in their effects on men s
lives, men s potentialities. Authoritarian and totalitarian
governments fail to carry out their duties to citizens.
(2) Soviet communism and humanism are social op-
posites. The Soviet Union does not permit individual
liberty and freedom and does not believe in the primacy
of the individual.
(3) Any feeling against Russian communist policy
should not involve the assumption that the Russians as a
people have inborn irritating traits. They love, hate,
desire, and have material needs as do the rest of mankind.
Russians are not by nature inherently hostile to us but,
like all humans, they act as they are conditioned to act.
And the present Russian government the little group
that grabbed power and has imposed arbitrary disciplines
80 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
sees to it that they are conditioned against America
and Americans.
(4) The free world should not fall into the comfort
able error that it is only Russia which has had interests
beyond its borders and therefore is alone in being open to
the suspicions of other nations.
(5) For some peoples in other lands the communist
promise of security, of food, appears to more than balance
the communist threat to liberty. After centuries of op
pression, of living under feudalistic conditions, they are
promised by the communists that they can have what is
rightfully theirs. Accordingly, it is useless for the West
ern world to speak to an Indian, for instance of the
joys of theoretical freedom. For centuries he has been
beset by the caste system and a rigid feudalism and to him
the idea of freedom is vague. But he has learned how
miserably poor he is in comparison with most men in the
West. To him, talk of enough food to eat is more mean
ingful than talk of liberty. He listens when he hears that
he can become the economic equal of all others and can
take part in building a society where exploiters cannot
get rich from the work of the poor. He listens when he
is told that he can become free from money lenders who
charge up to 100 per cent interest annually, and from
landlords who extract, in rent, a large part of the crops
he grows.
Wherever there are deep-seated, unfulfilled, economic
wants and caste systems, wherever there are century-old
traditions of entrenched power, wherever it is barely pos
sible for an ordinary man to earn enough to feed his
family, the communist story is bound to find listeners.
The need for sufficient food to allay hunger, and for
APPLYING HUMANISM TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS 8l
decent living conditions, is just as deep a need, and just
as worthy of respect and concern as the need for liberty.
The best defense the free world has against communism
is the policy of assisting foreign peoples to satisfy these
basic needs, or better still, to help them to help themselves.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Development of
Organization
The American Humanist Association
In 1927 a group of professors and students at the Uni
versity of Chicago started to publish a mimeographed
sheet called The New Humanist. The American Human
ist Association developed out of this early expression of
confidence and faith in man and his future.
In 1929, a humanist club was started in Bangalore,
India. Colonel Raja Jai Prithvi Bahadur Singh of Nepal
served as the first president of this organization of which
Rabindranath Tagore was a member. So far as is known,
these Indians were without knowledge of the comparable
activity here in the United States.
Before the first World War Unitarian and Universalist
churches encouraged on principle freedom of belief among
their ministers. After the War these ministers were al
lowed to express freely any kind of belief from their pul
pits and platforms. Liberal ministers whose thought
stimulated the development of the organized humanist
movement included Curtis W. Reese, M. M. Mangasarian,
John Dietrich, Edwin H. Wilson, and Charles Francis Pot
ter. At the same time Percival Chubb, J. Hutton Hynd,
THE DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIZATION 83
and George O Dell advanced humanist views in Ethical
Culture Societies. Another strong impetus came from
naturalistic philosophers whose educational theories were
widely discussed. John Dewey, Irwin Edman, F. C. S.
Schiller, George Santayana, Bertrand Russell, William
James, Max Otto, Roy Wood Sellars, and Oliver L. Reiser
were among the most influential of these professors. A
third contributing trend came from historians and scien
tists who strongly felt the need for wider recognition of
values within a natural framework. Luther Burbank,
Robert G. Ingersoll, Thomas Edison, H. S. Jennings, Al
fred Korzybski, Harry A. Overstreet, Harry Elmer Barnes,
J. B. S. Haldane, Julian Huxley, James Harvey Robinson,
C. Judson Herrick, Cassius J. Keyser, Edwin G. Conklin,
George Sarton, Lancelot Hogben, and A. Eustace Haydon
were noteworthy in this respect. Still another impetus
came from literary figures including Walt Whitman, Mark
Twain, H. G. Wells, Van Wyck Brooks, George Bernard
Shaw, Sinclair Lewis, John Galsworthy, Anatole France,
and Jules Remains.
The year 1933 was important for it was then that more
than thirty intellectual leaders signed the Humanist Mani
festo. Now that document is sometimes considered some
what dated, but its basic notions, though limited, are ac-
knowleged as sound. When the Manifesto was issued the
signers insisted that it was not a creed only an effort
to express their points of agreement at the moment.
Other summaries of the humanist position have been
made from time to time. One of these, Scientific Human
ism: A Formulation, written by Oliver L. Reiser and one
of the present authors, attracted relatively little attention
when it was published in 1943. Its emphases on basic
84 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
semantics and on global planning had not as yet been of
wide interest to humanists. The mainstream of humanist
advance now makes this formulation more timely than
ever.
The group which launched The New Humanist be
came known as the New Humanist Associates and organ
ized The Humanist Press Association, expecting to pat
tern it on The Rationalist Press Association in England.
In 1934 the name was changed to the American Humanist
Association. Later the association was incorporated as an
educational and religious organization, which role it still
plays.
The leaders of the American Humanist Association dur
ing the iggo s and early 1940*5 were largely men with
other liberal religious affiliations. Serving successively
as presidents were E. Burdette Backus, Raymond B. Bragg,
J. Hutton Hynd, and Curtis W. Reese. As the organiza
tion increased in scope and influence it became necessary
to have a full-time executive director and an adequate
staff. So in 1949 Edwin H. Wilson was asked to be its
first full-time executive. Dr. Wilson and his wife Janet had
long been identified with the organized humanist move
ment. For twenty years he had done organizational and
editorial work on a volunteer basis. The legal ability and
wisdom contributed over the years by Oswell G. Tread-
way has been of inestimable value in corporate and organi
zational matters. Now the American Humanist Associa
tion is able to receive bequests. These bequests make it
possible better to serve the religious, philosophical, and
educational needs of more people.
In recent years the Board and Officers have become
more representative of the expanding membership.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIZATION 85
These directors now include scientists, businessmen, law
yers, a psychiatrist, and a housewife Vashti McCollum.
It was Mrs. McCollum who almost singlehandedly carried
a case to the Supreme Court and there won a decision re
affirming the principle that sectarian religious instruction
has no place in the public school room.
Field representatives are coming to play a more impor
tant part in the development of the Association. These
men and women serve on a volunteer basis and help co
ordinate the activities of the groups in their area.
Very often where there is a field representative in an
urban center, chapters or Humanist study groups have
resulted in part through his efforts. Those who have done
this include E. Stuart MacDonald, Toronto; W. Howard
Beach, Rochester; Roy Everett, Seattle; William H. Stal-
naker, Houston; George Paps, Toledo; Sonia Rogolsky,
Detroit; B. B. Stoller, Duluth; Warren Allen Smith, New
York; and Irving Zaret, Washington D.C. In Chicago
Frederick W, Young is making a solid contribution.
In rural areas other field representatives such as Wesley
Dudgeon carry humanist literature to smaller towns. Sev
eral times field representatives have continued their work
while in military service, distributing reading material to
fellow service men.
The American Humanist Association is chiefly an or
ganization of individuals living throughout the United
States and Canada. Affiliated with it, however, are numer
ous chapters, fellowships, and study groups.
Notable in the chapters that are now rapidly organizing
is the presence of mature young people in their twenties.
Youth, let down by the religious and political orthodoxies
of left and right, repelled by the antiscientific irrationali-
86 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
ties of traditional faiths, is looking for a cause to which
it can constructively devote itself and is finding that cause
in humanism.
There has been little effort to make the organization a
tightly-knit one, for it has been felt that one of its major
purposes is that of stimulating humanists wherever they
may be, and there is a significant and growing number
within liberal churches. Humanists are coming to recog
nize the need for a strong organization but are proceeding
with caution so as to avoid any undesirable features of a
church or cult.
In a recent letter Edwin H. Wilson said:
Whereas rationalism and freethought has in America tended
to develop into a multiplicity of little " one-man groups," the
A. H. A. has for a quarter of a century been deliberately
working in the direction of a broad organization developing
out of the ideas and loyalties and sacrifices of many people.
Now with a responsible board, the beginnings of an extension
staff of field representatives, and multiplying chapters it has
real roots in the commitments of more and more persons. It
has been building soundly. At the same time it has resisted
efforts to make a " church " out of it in any dogmatic or tradi
tional sense. The aim of humanist publishing has been to
keep the movement critical and creative.
In each of the past five years the American Humanist
Association has had a healthy increase in membership and
in range of activities. In 1953 a " Humanist of the Year "
was designated for the first time. This honor went to
Anton J. Carlson, the physiologist and former president
of the American Association for the Advancement of Sci
ence.
It is expected that before long millions of those with
out any religious affiliation will find in this movement
THE DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIZATION 87
inspiration and strength. This does not imply that all
o these humanists will necessarily become members of
the Association. We hope that these like-minded individ
uals will continue to find one another and come together
in local groups. The American Humanist Association
whose headquarters is in Yellow Springs, Ohio, has in
formation about various groups throughout the country.
Assistance in planning regional conferences can also be
obtained from the office in Yellow Springs.
The Association s Publications
The Association has three kinds of publications. There
is a membership bulletin called The Free Mind which dis
cusses activities of largely organizational interest as well
as timely comments on human affairs. There is the re
cently resumed Humanist Press and a projected series of
pamphlets, the first of which, George Simpson s Science
as Morality, has been published. And, most important,
there is the bi-monthly The Humanist, which can be
obtained by subscription and is carried on some news
stands. On the pages of this lively magazine is material
that can be found nowhere else. Many world figures con
tribute to it.
Warren Allen Smith, writing in The Humanist, has
said:
Naturalistic Humanism, since the start of the century, has
attracted an increasing number of the world s thinkers until
it now has become recognized as a major philosophy, one in
volving a socio-political, aesthetic, and scientific outlook upon
life. Numbered among its adherents are well-known scientists,
political scientists, clergymen, writers, and educators, as well
as many leading influential citizens in communities through
out the nation.
88 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
In the issue from which this was quoted were comments
by Thomas Mann, Stuart Chase, Arthur Koestler, Harry
A. Overstreet, Robinson Jeffers, Archibald MacLeish, Ru
pert Hughes, Conrad Aiken, Witter Bynner, and an article
by James Peter Warbasse, founder of the American co
operative movement and a leading humanist.
Columns in The Humanist have included Harold Lar-
rabee s " Reliable Knowledge/ Edwin H. Wilson s " The
Sectarian Battlefront," Maurice B. Visscher s " Science
for Humanity," Gerald Wendt s " Science Notes/ and a
column on race relations written at different times by
Homer Jack, Robert Kelso, and Lewis A. McGee.
We agree with the late Eduard C. Lindeman, noted
social worker, who said:
I like The Humanist because of its honesty, its audacity,
and its sprightliness. I am weary of intellectual double talk,
willful confusions, and artful deceptions. So, when The Hu
manist arrives ... I say to myself, " Here is your chance to
communicate with persons who place truth above all other
values."
Annually The Humanist conducts a Short Story Contest
for college undergraduates. Harper & Brothers and G. P.
Putnam and Sons have cooperated in this. This project
receives the special attention of David McEldowney, the
brilliant young managing editor of the bi-monthly.
The First International Congress on Humanism and
Ethical Culture
Humanists from many parts of the world gathered to
gether for a humanist conference for the first time in 1952.
J. P. van Pragg, Mrs. H. A. Polak-Schwarz, and J. Bijleveld
of the outstanding Dutch organization, the Humanistisch
THE DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIZATION 89
Verbond, were largely responsible for the arrangements of
the Conference.
From these meetings held August 21-26 in Amsterdam,
Holland, emerged the International Humanist and Ethi
cal Union, which is dedicated to cultivation of science,
loyalty to democratic principles, and furtherance of hu
man values without reliance upon authority or dogma.
The several hundred humanists gathered in Amsterdam
channeled their discussions into the following areas: The
meaning of science and democracy in human progress,
the humanization of man in society, and the program of
humanism and ethical culture.
In Rudolf Dreikurs* paper presented at the conference,
he said:
The humanist movement may well become the springboard
for a new universal religion without acquiring the attributes
of a cult. As such, humanism can provide a philosophy which,
can be a creed, ethics which can be a code, and fellowship culti
vating loyalty. It can break down the emotional isolation in
which people live in a competitive society, merging each into
the whole of his community, into the whole of mankind.
The conference was conducted in both English and in
French, which necessarily slowed the tempo at times. Of
great interest to the delegates were the slightly different
emphases of those from various countries. The Dutch
on the whole objected to calling humanism a religion, pre
ferring the terms faith, philosophy, or viewpoint. Some
English delegates desired a more fully developed philo
sophical basis as well as recognition of humanism s social
implications. The Americans could hardly have been
said to have had any major area of emphasis or agreement.
The Belgians were much concerned about freedom from
go HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
religion in the schools. The Germans were hopeful that
they would be recognized as integral parts of the interna
tional fight for freedom on all fronts. The French were
primarily concerned with protection and furtherance of
personal liberty. They had vivid recollections of what it
meant to have lost a measure of it. There was a common
bond among these delegates of many nations, a bond
which ties the present with the future.
The conference commended the work of Unesco, en
dorsed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the
Genocide Convention, and the European Convention for
the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Free
doms as essential steps toward international justice and
decency in a free world. Full support was voted the World
Conference on Planned Parenthood meeting in Bombay
and the World Federation of Mental Health meeting in
Brussels.
The Amsterdam Conference Statement
The now famous Fifth Resolution passed at the Con
ference is well worth quoting in full. The original ver
sion of this Resolution was drafted by Hector Hawton.
The adopted version has less emotional bite than the orig
inal, but it was the result of the deliberations of many
minds:
This congress is a response to the widespread demand for
an alternative to the religions which claim to be based on
revelation on the one hand, and totalitarian systems on the
other. The alternative offered as a third way out of the pres
ent crisis of civilization is Humanism, which is not a new sect,
but the outcome of a long tradition that has inspired many of
the world s thinkers and creative artists and given rise to sci
ence itself. Ethical Humanism unites all those who cannot
THE DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIZATION Ql
any longer believe the various creeds and are willing to base
their conviction on respect for man as a spiritual and moral
being. The fundamentals of modern, ethical Humanism are
as follows:
1. It is democratic. It aims at the fullest possible develop
ment of every human being. It holds that this is a matter
of right. The democratic principle can be applied to all
human relationships and is not restricted to methods of
government.
2. It seeks to use science creatively, not destructively. It ad
vocates a world-wide application of scientific method to
problems of human welfare. Humanists believe that the
tremendous problems with which mankind is faced in this
age of transition can be solved. Science gives the means
but science itself does not propose ends.
3. Humanism is ethical. It affirms the dignity of man and
the right of the individual to the greatest possible freedom
of development compatible with the rights of others. There
is a danger that in seeking to utilize scientific knowledge in
a complex society individual freedom may be threatened by
the very impersonal machine that has been created to save
it. Ethical Humanism, therefore, rejects totalitarian at
tempts to perfect the machine in order to obtain immediate
gains at the cost of human values.
4. It insists that personal liberty is an end that must be com
bined with social responsibility in order that it shall not be
sacrificed to the improvement of material conditions. With
out intellectual liberty, fundamental research, on which
progress must in the long run depend, would not be pos
sible. Humanism ventures to build a world on the free
person responsible to society. On behalf of individual free
dom humanism is undogmatic, imposing no creed upon its
adherents. Jt is thus committed to education free from in
doctrination.
5. It is a way of life, aiming at the maximum possible fulfill
ment, through the cultivation of ethical and creative liv
ing. It can be a way of life for everyone everywhere if the
individual is capable of the responses required by the
changing social order. The primary task of humanism to
day is to make men aware in the simplest terms of what it
can mean to them and what it commits them to. By uti-
gg HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
lizing in this context and for purposes of peace the new
power which science has given us, humanists have confi
dence that the present crisis can be surmounted. Liberated
from fear the energies of man will be available for a self-
realization to which it is impossible to forsee the limit.
Ethical humanism is thus a faith that answers the challenge
of our times. We call upon all men who share this conviction
to associate themselves with us in this cause.
Cooperation among Protestants, Catholics, Jews,
and Humanists
A Sunday does not pass in which some clergyman does
not attack humanism as godless atheism, worship of man,
or the handiwork of the devil. These attacks are reminis
cent of those leveled fifty years ago by various religious
leaders against men of other faiths. Gradually these re
ligious leaders have come to believe it is no longer desir
able to persecute those of a different major religion. This
gives comfort to the humanist who is now subjected to
criticism. He knows that these false accusations will be
refuted by increased knowledge of what humanists actually
think and actually do.
A growing number of liberal Protestant ministers, rab
bis, and ex-Catholic priests are openly speaking as human
ists. These men are turning their emphasis from man s
relation to God to man s relation with his fellows. The
enthusiasm of these religious leaders is bound to carry
over into practically all denominations.
A few ministers are suggesting that humanism is but
Christianity in action. This is not entirely without justi
fication for the application of ethical principles can be
made without any attention to theology, traditional reli
gious observances, or consideration of man s relation to
THE DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIZATION 93
God. These same ministers sometimes say that Christian
ity is " humanism plus." Humanists do not consider this
to be any more accurate than designating humanism as
" Christianity plus/ Humanism applies the scientific
method to all phases of man s life ethical and spiritual
as well as social and physical. Adherents of the four faiths
have the same concern for ideals and the welfare of all in
dividuals. The humanist differs from those in the three
other faiths in the conviction that the methods used have
to be consistently scientific.
CHAPTER NINE
The Great Adventure
How to Decide Whether You Are a Humanist
Several writers have worked out questionnaires by which
one can tell whether or not one can be classified as a hu
manist. It is with some reluctance that we offer still an
other set of questions.
(1) Do you believe that men will continue to learn
more about the way the earth was formed, life developed,
and how men have created their ethical and moral systems?
(2) Do you believe that men are a part of nature and
that there is no deity especially concerned for their wel
fare?
(3) Do you believe that the religions of the world and
the sacred scriptures were the creations of mortal men
and that religions have served different purposes at dif
ferent times and places? *
(4) Do you believe that the kind of life we live and
the kind of relationship that we have with other humans
is of primary importance?
(5) Do you believe that psychologists, psychiatrists, and
social scientists will continue to add to our knowledge of
the conditions of individual and social well-being?
(6) Do you frequently experience zest and contentment
from the realization that you are a part of nature?
THE GREAT ADVENTURE 95
(7) Do you believe that the meaning of life is that
which we give to it?
If you answer " yes " to most of these questions you can
classify yourself as a humanist for you view men in nat
uralistic and humanist terms. You have faith in man s
future here on earth and believe the highest goal for hu
man endeavor is a better world for all men.
Are you willing to consider new evidence of any kind
and in every field of human thought and behavior, even
though this may lead to a revision of some of your most
cherished beliefs? We cannot see how anyone who is con
sistent in his belief in a theistic religion or a nonnatural-
istic philosophy is able to answer this in the affirmative.
Humanists can.
For Sober Reflection
We all know that in some ways man s inner resources
are not keeping pace with his external ones. Each year
sees more machines and devices bringing added leisure
and comfort to millions of people. Yet little seems to be
achieved in helping men to be basically happier or wiser.
Even among those with countless machine-age gadgets
and abundant leisure there is often ennui, a sense of fu
tility and worthlessness.
What is wrong? The explanation most frequently
given is that men do not follow Christianity, Mohammed
anism, or whatever the religion happens to be. Say the
theologically-minded, " If only people would come to
know God, if only they would accept Him on faith and
not question or hold back! "
The humanist thinks otherwise. He appreciates and
gladly accepts the values of the historical ethical codes.
96 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
He notes, however, that these very old codes contain views
on slavery, the position of women, and other matters which
are not acceptable to contemporary men and women.
Then, too, there are countless situations upon which the
old codes do not provide guidance. The humanist feels
hopeful that our inner growth will be greater when the
same methods that have made scientific achievements pos
sible are used by ourselves in our own personal develop
ment and social relations. He believes the remedy is in
looking forward, not backward, in observation and experi
ence, in free imagination, in studying consequences of
action, and not in dependence upon revelation and tradi
tion. To date there has been no nation which has put
into general practice, the scientific method the human
ist method whereas whole nations have been Christian
ized or galvanized behind other major philosophies and
religions. The Christian ideals are admirable, but more
than the voice of revelation is needed to make them liv
ing realities.
In some ways humanism is little more, than the carrying
over into religious and ethical life of the general scien
tific approach. In the practical routines of daily life people
are often distrustful of pronouncements, for they gather
evidence and check facts before making decisions. For
the ideals of the great religions to be more nearly achieved
here on this earth and in our own lifetime we might well
use this approach in ethics, morals, and religion. Toward
this end the humanist labors, loves, and adventures. Many
people, we believe, are ready to make this transition.
What Humanism Gives Us
Humanism serves as both an inspiring religion and an
adequate philosophy for daily living. This sparkling
THE GREAT ADVENTURE 97
faith, this way of life, is richly rewarding and deeply
satisfying.
We see ourselves as a dynamic part of nature, respond
ing to the same laws as do other creatures. We observe
the working of these natural laws finding no need to set
ourselves apart from the world or to project our various
human purposes or plans onto the grand cosmic scheme
of things.
Depressing negatives have been turned into challenging
positives. What if we are the result of evolutionary change
from lower animals? We can feel pride and responsibility
in being the highest form of life that has as yet evolved
the spearhead of evolution!
What if the vast universe is neutral toward our human
hopes, our human ideals? We are still free to carve out
our own plans, set our own standards. Each of us is free
to give whatever meaning he wishes to his or her life.
Moreover, with increasing knowledge we learn more of
nature s laws and how to cooperate with them more fully.
The ideals of the great religions can more nearly become
living realities. As B. B. Stoller said at the 1953 Midwest
Regional Conference of the American Humanist Associa
tion:
Humanism does offer a faith, based on science, in the crea
tive potentialities of man, a faith in the dignity, gentleness,
and creativity of man.
Many find in the fourth faith a satisfying philosophy
and religion which does not run counter to their knowl
edge of the world. For them new vistas have been opened.
New possibilities for human cooperation in making a
heaven on earth have been presented. It is the youth of
today who are accepting the challenge and opportunity to
98 HUMANISM AS THE NEXT STEP
develop this faith. When there are sufficient numbers of
humanists in the world a new day will surely arrive. From
here until there it is a long, hard, difficult trail. Yet in
following it anyone can enjoy the greatest of human ad
ventures.
Albert Schweitzer, man of international good will now
living in Africa and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
for 1952, has said:
The world thinks it must raise itself above humanism; that
it must look for a more profound spirituality. It has taken a
false road. Humanism in all its simplicity is the only genuine
spirituality. Only ethics and religion which include in them
selves the humanitarian ideal have true value. And human
ism is the most precious result of rational meditation upon
our existence and that of the world.
Appendix
In 1950 the American Humanist Association sponsored
a World Humanism Essay Contest open to any who were
not American citizens. The response was gratifying, and
essays were received from all over the world from Af
rica, Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Americas.
The winning essay was written by a gifted Englishman,
Hector Hawton, editor of the Rationalist Press Association
and of Watts if Co. Mr. Hawton is also the author of phil
osophical books and of mystery stories. His essay, "Hu
manism: The Third Way" appeared in the December 1951
issue of The Humanist. We are reprinting it here because
it gives with great clarity a picture of the humanist move
ment as many Europeans see it. Across the Atlantic hu
manism is often regarded as an alternative system of belief
to Christianity and to Communism. Thought of in this
way, it becomes more than a philosophy or a religion.
It becomes in every sense of the word a way of life. Those
who follow this way of life are distinguished by their faith
in freedom and in science from those who follow the twin
orthodoxies.
Humanism: The Third Way
BY HECTOR HAWTON
Many people feel that in the present crisis of civiliza
tion they must choose between Christianity and Com
munism. They do not realize that by stating the issue in
such simple terms they are succumbing to the logic of the
very authoritarianism they fear. Both Christianity and
Communism are authoritarian systems. Both impose a
rigid theory and a way of life from above; private judg
ment is subordinated to scriptural text, or church disci
pline, or to the party line. Both claim to be in possession
of certain truths, to deny which would be held impious or
treasonable. The history of the Christian Church
whether Protestant or Catholic shows to what extreme
lengths otherwise kindly men will go in suppressing op
position, when they believe they have attained certitude.
And we know from recent events that Communism is
even more ruthless (and a great deal more efficient) in
extirpating heresy. The reason that, despite these facts,
the modern dilemma is so often seen as a choice between
Christianity and Communism is partly due to the success
of propaganda, partly to the difficulty of seeing a third
choice.
Propaganda, making capital of a widespread weariness
of mere argument, skillfully uses the logical fallacy pop
ularized by Existentialists. This is the time for decision,
HUMANISM: THE THIRD WAY 101
we are told. We cannot sit on the fence forever; we must
come down on one side or the other. And this very anal
ogy tacitly assumes there are only two choices. It is as if
we were told to choose between black and white, disregard
ing the possibility of any other color. If we object, we
are met with another argument, similar in form: "He
who is not with us is against us." This suggests that if
we ally ourselves with Christians in a struggle against
Communism, we support Christianity "objectively." It
means, in effect, the original challenge still holds: " Either
Christianity or Communism." But a moment s reflection
shows that in such a struggle we may also find ourselves
in alliance with Mohammedans, Hindus, Buddhists and
Jews. The " either-or " fallacy is the source of a dangerous
confusion of thought, and those who accept it sweep aside
the right of independent minorities to assert themselves.
Such right is of the essence of democracy; and that is why
Humanism, itself a minority movement, can only survive
in a democratic society. On this side of the Iron Curtain,
at least, Humanism, though it may be frowned upon, is
tolerated. Even the Catholic Church, the most totalitarian
form of Christianity, without abating one jot of its theo
retical right to persecute, tolerates the existence of Hu
manism in practice. But on the other side of the Iron
Curtain, Humanism is not allowed to show itself. It is
denounced as " Westernism " or " decadent bourgeois lib
eralism/ and its exponents suffer the fate of " lackeys of
American Imperialism."
In the present state of the world there can be no ques
tion whatever about the alignment of Humanism. It is
part and parcel of the free, democratic world. In order
to change admitted evils in the democratic world, Human-
102 HUMANISM: THE THIRD WAY
ism must support, in the last analysis, a social framework
that at least permits shortcomings to be exposed. The
first duty of Humanism is to survive; to align itself with a
frankly totalitarian regime would be suicidal.
In comparison to its great rivals, Humanism is a soul
without a body, a stream of ideas without their effective
organization. The absence of any striking, visible em
bodiment is no doubt one reason why it is overlooked by
many who long to find an alternative to Christianity in
which they cannot believe and to Communism which
they do not want. Nor is there any philosophic system
or any program of action commanding wide agreement
that can confidently be denoted Humanist. " I can see
tables, but not tabularity," complained Diogenes to a
Platonist. And so we can point to a long succession of
Humanists from the Sixth Century B.C. onward; but we
cannot select a unique system and say that it is, without
question, Humanism.
The pressure of the great crisis of civilization through
which we are passing will remedy this state of affairs. Al
ready the demand for an international organization which
will represent and clarify what is broadly meant by " Hu
manist" thought is making itself felt. Julian Huxley
failed in his attempt to make " Scientific Humanism " the
official philosophy of Unesco; but the majority of scien
tific workers, as well as a large educated public, would prob
ably be found to be in sympathy with such a philosophy
if it were clearly formulated. The urgent duty of the rudi
mentary organization that is taking shape on two conti
nents is to re-state in modern idiom the basic principles
of the great Humanist tradition. We cannot hope to rally
potential supporters until we have made it plain what we
HUMANISM: THE THIRD WAY 10g
stand for and what we propose to offer in place of Chris
tianity, on the one hand, and Communism, on the other.
This is obviously no easy task, because Humanism is
distinguished from authoritarian systems in that it offers
no absolutely certain truths. It actually encourages non
conformity. Humanism would be false to its own nature
if it drew up a final and dogmatic set of propositions and
demanded that they should be accepted. The Humanist
does not impose dogmas but incites men to embark on the
voyage of intellectual discovery and to accept only what
they themselves have tested and found reasonable. In this
quest for knowledge, however, the philosophy provides
the most powerful of all navigational aids: the scientific
method.
It cannot be disputed that of all the various ways in
which man has sought to increase his knowledge, the disci
pline of science has been overwhelmingly the most success
ful. In three hundred years, science has transformed our
entire outlook on the universe and man s place in it. For
the modern Humanist, science must be the starting point
of any philosophy. If we venture beyond the findings of
the special sciences and try to work out a speculative
scheme, we do so at the risk of talking nonsense. On mat
ters remote from verification, the inclination of the Hu
manist is to be cautious and tentative in expressing an
opinion; and we must admit that many different opinions
can be legitimately held. In other words, in the realm of
pure philosophy Humanism has many mansions, and the
problem is to fix the limits within which we may differ.
Humanism, for example, cannot include the philosophies
of Aquinas or Marx without losing its distinctive character.
It is more than doubtful whether contemporary Human-
1O4 HUMANISM: THE THIRD WAY
ism can accommodate Heidegger and Sartre, though room
might be found for Jaspers. We can with confidence
assign a place to Dewey, Russell, Whitehead and Wittgen
stein.
In dealing with such questions even more attention
should be paid to the method whereby a philosopher
arrives at his conclusions, than to the conclusions them
selves. Humanism cannot accept any form of religious
revelation and is mistrustful of intuition. It cannot accept
the method of deductive rationalism employed by Des
cartes, Leibnitz and Spinoza. If a system must be built,
it must be in the nature of a hypothesis a provisional
scheme of concepts, subject to constant revision, in terms
of which a rational interpretation to every element in hu
man experience is sought. But for the fact that " Natural
ism " is one of the most ambiguous terms in philosophy,
it would have been shorter to say outright that Human
ism is Naturalism.
When we come down from this rarefied atmosphere
there is much less room for differences. Thus, if we ask
ourselves what the outstanding representatives of the Hu
manist tradition from the time of the lonians down to
the present day have in common, we can see at once that
they were all more concerned with the affairs of this world
than with the next. In the classical world, there were the
various mystery cults. Later on, Christianity promised
very special rewards in the hereafter for those who spurned
earthly pleasures. The earth was not regarded as man s
home; he was a stranger and an exile, and heaven (or
hell) was his destination. In contrast, the Humanists
took the view that man could attain happiness here and
now. Humanists, moreover, did not believe that human
HUMANISM: THE THIRD WAY 105
nature was essentially depraved. On the contrary, they
held that by living in accordance with his true nature,
man achieved goodness.
This was no selfish sensualism. The "garden** of
Epicurus was a small-holding, where a few displaced per
sons lived frugally and cultivated peace-of-mind by rid
ding themselves of superstitious fears and studying the
science of the day. The Stoics had a keener social con
science. They had a vision of man, not as a citizen of a
small city-state, but of the whole cosmos. If the only
armour against Fate seemed to be indifference to its blows,
that was because no way of mastering Fate could be seen
until modern science gave man a measure of control over
what had hitherto seemed inescapable.
The history of societies, as well as of thought, shows
that man is both a political and an ethical animal. He is
not merely preoccupied with specific codes of conduct,
but as soon as we have any record of abstract thought
he is found to have been concerned with the idea of
" right.** It may well be that this notion of " right " is
indefinable, not capable of further reduction by analysis.
But Humanism has shown that " right * does not require
the support of supernaturalism. It is rooted in human
nature, and that is what we mean by saying that human na
ture is good and not warped by some supposed Original
Sin. Humanists believe that they best fulfill their nature
and realize its highest capacity by an act of will when,
come what may, they do what they believe to be right.
Modern Humanism is the immediate successor to the
Positivist " Religion of Humanity " and to the Ethical
movement of the Nineteenth Century. In the i88o*s the
landslide of Victorian unbelief gave rise to a crop of Ethi-
io6 HUMANISM: THE THIRD WAY
cal Societies. Some of them still flourish; , and though the
Positivist Church is moribund, the modern Humanist
feels, with Gilbert Murray, that what Comte was trying
to say " is not only sublime but true." He was trying to
say that we can lead decent lives, based on sympathetic
understanding of each other s needs, continuously develop
ing man s Humanitas, without any belief in a personal
God. And this is not so very different from what one of
the later Stoics had affirmed long before with Deus est
Mortali invar e mortalem (" God is the helping of man by
man") .
For the Humanist there is no double-code, as for so
many Christians. He is not saddled with the impracti
cable, perfectionist ethics of the New Testament, which
sprang from a conviction that the end of the world was at
hand. The end of the world did not come; and the
Church had perforce to develop an ethical system which
could be practiced by those engaged in the administration
of State and Empire. When the medieval order broke
down, there was a tendency for religion and politics to
separate. The function of modern Humanism is to bring
them together; not, obviously, to revive dogmatic religion,
but to insist that ethical principles must guide our deci
sions in peace and war. The Humanist must ask of any
social enactment the most searching questions not
merely whether the act is expedient, but whether it is
right.
Science cannot tell us what is right, but it can often
save us from wasting our energies in pursuit of an impos
sible goal, and it can aid us powerfully in reaching our
goal. For example, it is fashionable at the moment to say
that progress is an illusion; but Humanists agree with
HUMANISM: THE THIRD WAY 107
Julian Huxley that, "Progress is a scientific fact." Again,
if the theory that certain races are intrinsically inferior
to others were true, we should not waste time fighting for
equal status; but to the Humanist this is an empirical
question to be decided by evidence, and he will heed the
recent report prepared by Unesco which states that there
is no evidence to support discrimination on racial grounds.
In the practical conduct of affairs, the Humanist will be
more ready to listen to the trained economist than to the
politician; and he will supplant the exorcist by the psy
chiatrist.
One of the major problems of our time and one to
which governments are tempted to shut their eyes is
that the population of the world is rapidly outstripping
the available food supply. The spectre of Malthus has re
turned. Prayer will not avert this danger; and the resist
ance to birth-control, based on religious taboos (or, as in
the USSR, on the need for a large army) will only aggra
vate it. The most hopeful immediate line is agricultural
research to increase the fertility of the soil and reduce the
appalling wastage of our resources, due to erosion and the
ravages of pests. A large-scale expansion of the work of
the World Health Organization is the best way to accom
plish this and it is the Humanist way.
Looking back, we can see how the range of sympathy
has been extended. There was a time when no one cared
what happened outside his own clan; then the limits of
concern were extended to the city-state, and then to a
great empire. Today, the unit is the world. The appeal
of Humanism is global. In that, it resembles its great
rivals, Communism and Christianity. But in its appeal to
unitary man it has the unique advantage of possessing the
io8 HUMANISM: THE THIRD WAY
international language of science. Whatever the country,
whatever the race, the same method and the same con
cepts of science are accepted. The same cannot be said
of Christianity; and although Communism protests that
it is scientific, the Lysenko incident alone is sufficient to
show that science would be stifled in an atmosphere of
metaphysical orthodoxy ultimately imposed by force.
Humanism sees in the freedom of thought, only possible
in a genuine democracy, an essential condition of civilized
life and in the long run, of the very survival of civiliza
tion. Humanism has contributed at least two vital ideals
to what are sometimes called "Western Values": tolera
tion and the disinterested pursuit of truth. Without these
virtues which arose in the teeth of religious opposition
science would be impossible. The springs of discovery
and creative thought would dry up. And without the Hu
manist insistence that ethical principles should control
our use of scientific knowledge, science could destroy us.
We stand today at the crossroads. Humanism scorns
the counsels of despair and the retreat of frightened men
to obscurantism. It offers a way out of the crisis the
only way. If Humanist societies are formed in every free
country, then federated into a world-movement, we can
hope to implement many of our ideas and guide mankind
safely through this age of transition. The goal is not an
imaginary Utopia, but a sane and ordered society in which
men can realize to the full the rich potentialities of their
nature.
Suggestions for Further Reading
BOOKS
Burkhardt, Frederick, ed. Tine Cleavage in Our Culture:
Studies in Scientific Humanism in Honor of Max Otto.
Boston: Beacon Press, 1952.
Chase, Stuart. The Proper Study of Mankind. New York:
Harper & Brothers, 1948.
Specific examples of science in human relations.
Dewey, John. A Common Faith. New Haven: Yale Univer
sity Press, 1934.
Dewey, John, and Bentley, Arthur F. Knowing and the
Known. Boston: Beacon Press, 1949.
Tough reading but rewarding.
Fromm, Erich. Man far Himself. New York: Rinehart, 1947.
. Psychoanalysis and Religion. New Haven: Yale Uni
versity Press, 1950.
Hayakawa, S. I. Language in Thought and Action. New
York: Harcourt, Bruce, 1949.
Useful for everyone.
Huxley, Julian. Man in the Modern World. London: Chatto
& Windus, 1950.
Keyes, Kenneth S., Jr. How to Develop Your Thinking Abil
ity. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1950.
Simple and interesting.
Lamont, Corliss. Humanism as a Philosophy. New York:
Philosophical Library, 1949.
A fine general survey.
HO SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING
Living as a Humanist. Essays by H. J. Blackham, Virginia
Flemming, Ursula Edgcumbe, and M. L. Burnet. London:
Chaterson, Ltd. (Obtainable from the American Humanist
Association.)
Well written though moderately difficult.
Kluckhohn, Clyde. Mirror for Man: The Relation of Anthro
pology to Modern Life. New York: Whittlesey House, 1949.
MacLeish, Archibald. Freedom Is the Right to Choose. Bos
ton: Beacon Press, 1951.
May, Rollo. Man s Search for Himself. New York: W. W.
Norton, 1953.
Mayer, Charles. Man: Mind or Matter? Boston: Beacon
Press, 1951.
Montagu, Ashley. On Being Human. New York: Henry
Schuman, 1951.
Excellent on the nature of human nature and human
relations.
Otto, Max C. Science and the Moral Life. New York: New
American Library of World Literature, 1949.
Overstreet, H. A. The Mature Mind. New York: W. W.
Norton, 1949.
Patten, William. The Grand Strategy of Evolution. Boston:
Richard G. Badger, 1920.
The place of cooperation in nature.
Proceedings of the First International Congress on Humanism
and Ethical Culture. Utrecht, Netherlands: Humanistisch
Verbond, 1953. (Obtainable from the American Humanist
Association.)
Reiser, Oliver L. Nature, Man and God. Pittsburgh: Uni
versity of Pittsburgh Press, 1951.
. The Promise of Scientific Humanism. New York:
Oskar Piest, 1940.
These two books are for those who like to play with ideas.
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING 111
Sargent, Porter. Extending Horizons. Boston: Porter Sar
gent, 1950.
Smith, Homer W. Man and His Gods. Boston: Little Brown,
195*- m
An intelligent review.
The Thinker s Library, published in London by Watts fe
Co. (5 fc 6 Johnson s Court, Fleet Street, E. C. 4) , consists of
inexpensive editions containing much outstanding material.
Books by humanist authors include Man Makes Himself, by
V. Gordon Childe; Man: The Verdict of Science, by G. N.
Ridley; The Religion of the Open Mind, by A. Gowans
Whyte; The Origin of the Kiss, and Other Scientific Diver
sions, by C. M. Beadnell; and Religion without Revelation,
by Julian Huxley.
PERIODICALS
The Humanist. Published bi-monthly by the American Hu
manist Association, Yellow Springs, Ohio.
Essential reading; includes material found nowhere else.
Manas. P.O. Box 112, El Sereno Station, Los Angeles 32,
California.
A journal of independent inquiry, regarded by some as
The New Yorker of intellectual magazines.
Etc.: A Review of General Semantics. 539 West North Ave
nue, Chicago 10, Illinois.
A quarterly.
Index
Abbott, Ruth T., 45, 52
Abell, T. C., 7
Absolutes, 62
Aiken, Conrad, 6, 88
American Association for the Ad
vancement of Science, 86
American Humanist Association, 9,
11, 37, 41, 46, 67, 97, 99, 110-111;
incorporation of, 84; work of, 39-
40, 82-88
" American Imperialism," 101
Ames, Van Meter, 6
Amsterdam Conference statement,
90792
Aquinas, 103
Aristotle, 17
Armstrong, Jessie L., 8
Auer, J. A. C. F., 7
Authoritarianism, 100, 103
Axtelle, George E., 8
Ayer, A. J., 6
Ayres, C. E., 6
Backus, E. Burdette, 7, 84
Bacon, Francis, 19
Bahadur, Raja Jai Prithvi Singh,
Colonel, 82
Bahm, A. J., 7
Bain, Read, 8
Barnes, Harry Elmer, 8, 83
Baumgardner, Raymond C., 8
Beach, W. Howard, 85
BeadneU, C. M., 111
Beethoven, van, Ludwig, 18
Behavior, standards of, 48-49
Bentley, Arthur F., 6, 19, 109
Berg, Melvin W., 41
Berman, Eleanor D., 6
Bernard, Claude, 22
Bible, 31-32
Bijleveld, J., 88
Birkhead, L. M., 7
Bissell, Malcolm H., 8, 37
Blackham, Harold J., 7, 55, no
Blanshard, Brand, 6
Bode, Boyd H., 6
Bonner, C. Bradlaugh, 8
Bragg, Raymond B., 7, 84
Brahmanism, 3
Brancatisano, Fortunato, 6
Briggs, Arthur E., 7
Brogden, John, 7
Brooks, Van Wyck, 6, 83
Buddha, 41
Buddhism, 3, 24, 31, 101
Buehrer, Edwin T., 7
Burbank, Luther, 83
Burkhardt, Frederick H., 8, 109
Burnet, M. L., 6, no
Bynner, Witter, 6, 88
Cairns, Fred I, 7
Caldecott, Ernest, 7
Cantor, Nathaniel, 8
Cardiff, Ira D., 8
Carlson, Anton J., 8, 86
Carnap, Rudolf, 6
Catholic Church, 101
Catholics, 5, n, 39-40, 73, 92, 100
Charles Street Universalist Meet
inghouse, 36
Chase, Stuart, 88, 109
Childe, V. Gordon, in
Chisholm, Brock, 6
Christianity, 3, 24, 31, 34, 71, 92-
93* 95-9& 99-103, 105, 107-108
INDEX
Christians, 28, 101, 106
Chubb, Percival, 7, 82
Clark, Warner, 8
Cole, Alfred S., 7
Cole, David, 7
Comey, Arthur C., 8
Communism, 99, 101-103, 107; and
extirpation of heresy, 100, 108
Communist: promise of security, 80;
threat to liberty, 80
Comte, Auguste, 106
Confucianism, 3, 31
Congregational Church, 35
Conklin, Edwin G., 5, 83
Constitutional Convention, 34
Copernicus, 18
Cox, Howard, 41
Danz, John, 39
Dark Ages, 19
Darwin, Charles, 22
Davies, Blodwen, 6
Davis, Elmer, 34
Deists, 34
Descartes, Rene*, 104
Dewey, John, 5, 12, 19, 83, 104, 109
Dewing, Frances R., 27
DeWitt, Dale, 7
Dieffenbach, Albert C., 7
Dietrich, John H., 15, 50, 82
Diogenes, 102
Divine right, theory of, 21
Doughty, LeGarde S., 6
Dreikurs, Rudolf, 8, 46, 55, 89
Dudgeon, Wesley, 85
Dushman, Saul, 8
Edgecumbe, Ursula, no
Edison, Thomas, 83
Edman, Irwin, 6, 83
Epicurus, 18, 105
Episcopal Church, 35
Ethical Culture Societies, 11, 35, 67,
8 3 99 105-106
Ethics, 27, 48, 91, 95-96, 98; com
mon basis in world religions, 3-4,
38, 42; created by men, 94; per
fectionist, 106; principles of, 10,
92, 106, 108; and self-knowledge,
65; and self-respect, 46, 64; source
of, 52, 105
European Convention for the Pro
tection of Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms, 90
Everett, Roy, 85
Evolution, 17, 23, 31, 51, 54, 70; and
adaptation, 22; directed by man,
54, 97; of living things, 29, 54, 97
Existentialism, 100
Farrell, James T., 6
Faymonville, Philip R., 8
Feigl, Herbert, 6
Fenn, Wallace O., 8
Fink, George A., 8
First International Congress on Hu
manism and Ethical Culture, 67,
88-92
Fisher, Dorothy Canfield, 6
Flemming, Virginia, 8, no
Food and Agricultural Organiza
tion, 73
France, Anatole, 83
Frank, Philipp, 6
Franklin, Benjamin, 34
Free Mind, The, 87
Freedom: of association, 71; of con
science, 70; democratic, 79; of de
velopment, 91; denied in Soviet
Union, 79, 108; faith in, 35, 99;
of inquiry, 56; political, 21, 69;
theoretical, 80; of thought, 19,
108
Freethought, 34, 86
Fries, Horace, 5
Fromm, Erich, 8, 44, 55, 109
Galileo, 18
Galsworthy, John, 5, 83
Garrett, Ruby D., 8
Geiger, George R., 6
Genocide Convention, 90
Girard, Ralph W., 8
Glicksberg, Charles I., 6
6od, 13, 15, 23, 28, 31-32, 92-93, 95;
and Constitutional Convention,
34; as creator, 22, 24; as imper
sonal, 30; as personal, 30, 42; no
evidence of support from, 29-30,
38, 43> 5i> 68
Gods, 18, 37, 45
Goldman, Solomon, 7
Gotesky, Rubin, 7
Gould, Frederick J., 5
Grasso, James V., 41
Greene, John Gardner, 7
Gregory, Sir Richard, 5
Haldane, J. B. S., 83
Hall, William James, 41
Hammond, William D., 7
Hankins, Frank H., 8, 25
Harkins, Albert, 7
Harper & Brothers, 88
Hawton, Hector, 90, 99-100
Hayakawa, S. I., 8, 109
Haydon, A. Eustace, 7, 12, 44, 51, 83
Hazlitt, Henry, 6
Heidegger, Martin, 104
Herrick, C. Judson, 8, 83
Herriot, Edouard, 8
Hershey, John H., 7
Hilton, Randall, 7
Hinckley, Lyman, 34
Hinduism, 24, 101
Hires, Harrison, 8
Hobson, John A., 5
Hodgin, E. S., 7
Hogben, Lancelot, 83
Holly, William H., 8
Hook, Sidney, 6
Hornbach, James F., 7
Hughes, Rupert, 88
Humanism: as an adequate philos
ophy, 36, 89, 96-97; as applied
Christianity, 71; as applied to so
cial problems, 67-81; and brother
hood, 4, 10, 14, 37, 51; and civil
liberties, 71-72; and concentra
tion of interest on life on earth,
22, 38, 47, 104; definitions of, 13-
15; and democracy, 101, 108; and
evolution, 22-23, 5 1 * forerunners
of, 16-26; as fourth faith, 3-15,
28-29, 37~39 4i 47 49> 68 > 97:
and freethought, 8-9, 108; and
hope for man, 20, 25, 29, 54, 95;
INDEX 115
and immortality, 33-34; and in
spiration, 49-53, 56, 96; natural
istic, 87, 95, 104; as next step, 26;
not a cult, 86, 89-90; opposition
to communism, 79; and personal
needs, 42-56; and personal prob
lems, 57-66; as religion of hu
manity, 41, 89, 105; as religion
without God, 4-5, 15, 25, 68, 92,
106; and respect for individual,
69-70; scientific, 6, 102, no; and
scientific method, 14, 17, 27-29,
38, 58-59, 65-66, 68-69, 72 76, 7 8 >
91, 93, 96, 103; as Third Way, 10-
11, 99-108
Humanist: basis for morality, 32-
33> 38-39; groups, 5, 10, 16, 24,
35* 39 85; societies, 7, 108; tradi
tion, 102, 104; Way, 13
Humanist Fellowship of Boston, 31,
35*50
Humanist Manifesto, 83
" Humanist of the Year," 86
Humanist Press Association, 84, 87
Humanist, The, 7, 87-88, 99, in
Humanistisch Verbond, 88-89, no
Humanists: as agnostics, 30-31; as
atheists, 30-31; and churches, 40;
committed to human adventure,
52, 98; cooperation with Catho
lics, Protestants, and Jews, 92-93;
nondogmatic, 59, 103; open-
minded, 77; and symbols, 35-38
Huxley, Aldous, 71
Huxley, Julian, 5-6, 12, 83, 102, 107,
109, in
Huxley, Thomas, 31
Hynd, J. Hutton, 7, 82, 84
Immortality, 28, 31, 33-34
Indians, 80, 82
Ingersoll, Robert G., 33, 83
Institute of Human Fellowship, 39
International Humanist and Ethi
cal Union, 5, 55, 89
lonians, 104
Iron Curtain, 101
Irrationalism, 85-86
Islam, 4
n6
INDEX
Jack, Homer, 88
James, William, 83
Jarrett, James L., Jr., 7
Jeffers, Robinson, 88
Jefferson, Thomas, 20-21, 34
Jenkins, William P., 7
Jennings, H. S., 83
Jesus, 32
John, Roy, 8
Jones, Llewellyn, 6
Judaism, 4-5, 7, 11, 24, 32, 35, 39-
40, 73, 92, 101; Conservative, 7;
Reconstructionist, 7; Reformed, 7
Kallen, Horace M., 6, 13
Kaplan, Mordecai, 7
Keith, Sir Arthur, 6
Kelso, Robert, 41, 88
Kent, Gordon, 8
Kespohl, Julius, 8
Keyes, Kenneth S., Jr., 109
Keyser, Cassius J., 83
Kidneigh, John C., 8
Kilpatrick, William Heard, 8, 78
Kinney, Paul, 8
Kirschbaum, Jean Jackson, 41
Kluckhohn, Clyde, 8, no
Koestler, Arthur, 88
Korn, Bertram, 7
Korzybski, Alfred, 83
Kropotkin, Prince Petr, 28
Krutch, Joseph Wood, 6
Lament, Corliss, 6, 109
Lang, J. Jack, 8
Larrabee, Harold A., 6, 88
Lee, Alfred McClung, 8
Leibnitz, von, Baron Gottfried Wil-
helm, 104
Leighton, J. A., 6
Lennon, William F., Jr., 41
Lerner, Lee, 8
Leuba, James H., 5, 30
Lewis, Sinclair, 5, 83
Lindeman, Eduard C., 5, 88
Low, Clarence H., 8
Lucretius, 18
Lysenko, 108
Lyttle, Charles H., 7
McCarthy, Joseph, Senator, 72
McCollum, Vashti, 8, 85
MacDonald, E. Stuart, 85
McEldowney, David, 88
McGary, Keith, 7
McGee, Lewis A., 88
MacKinnon, John, 7
MacKnight, James W., 7
MacLeish, Archibald, 88, 110
Malthus, Thomas Robert, 107
Man: as creator and builder, 20,
45> 5 7o 97; dignity of, 91, 97;
equality of, 21, 29, 70, 75, 76, 79,
107; as integral with nature, 44,
52~54 94 97 intrinsic value of,
21, 43, 76; as new dimension in
nature, 53; and responsibility for
improving world, 68, 91; and
right to liberty, 20; and self-re
spect, 43, 46, 64, 70; and solidar
ity with man, 44, 54; as supreme
being, 31
Mangasarian, M. M., 82
Mann, Thomas, 6, 88
Marvin, F. S., 5
Marx, Karl, 103
May, Rollo, 56, no
Mayer, Charles, 6, no
Mayer, Philip, 7
Mead, George Herbert, 19
Menen, Aubrey, 48
Menninger, Karl A., 8
Middle Ages, 24
Moehlman, Arthur B., 5
Moehlman, Conrad, 7
Mohammedanism, 24, 31, 95, 101
Mondale, R. Lester, 7
Montagu, Ashley, no
Moral codes, 29, 32, 38, 105
Morandini, D. Michael, 6
Morgan, Arthur E., 8
Morris, Charles, 7
Muller, Herbert J., 6
Murray, Gilbert, 6, 106
Myers, Francis, 7
Mysticism, 44, 51
Naturalism, 104
Nature, 5, 18; and adaptation, 22;
INDEX
117
as dependable, 38; laws of, 38, 45,
5-5ij 97> and man *3> 16-17* 29,
31, 37, 44-45* 53; and order, 38;
reasonableness of, 45. See also
Universe
New Humanist f The, 82, 84
New Humanist Associates, 84
Newcomb, Rexford, 8
Nobel Peace Prize, 98
O Dell, George, 7, 83
Orr, John Boyd, Baron, 6
Orr, Hugh Robert, 8
Otto, Max, 7, 83, 109-110
Overstreet, Harry A., 55, 83, 88, no
Paine, Thomas, 12, 20, 34
Paps, George, 85
Patten, William, 22, no
Patterson, C. G., 39
Patton, Kenneth L., 7, 36
Peirce, Charles Sanders, 19
Phenix, Philip, 7
Piatt, Donald A., 7
Planned Parenthood, 74
Plato, 102
Polak-Schwarz, Mrs. H. A., 88
Pollock, Abraham, 41
Positivism, 105
Positivist Church, 106
Potter, Charles Francis, 7, 15, 82
Protagoras, 18
Protestants, 5, n, 39-40, 73, 92, 100
Pullman, Tracy M., 7
Putnam, G. P. and Sons, 88
Quakers, 35
Quest, Robert, 41
Rafton, Harold R., 8, 31
Rafton, Helen, 8
Randall, John Herman, Jr., 7, 20
Rationalism, 86
Rationalist Press Association, The,
84
Ratner, Joseph, 7
Ratner, Sidney, 7
Read, Allen Walker, 6
Reason, belief in, 19
Reese, Curtis W., 7, 67, 8 f 84
Reformation, 26
Reichenbach, Hans, 5, 19
Reiser, Oliver L., 7, 68, 83, no
Religion: and brotherhood of man,
17, 21; and cultural variations, 4;
definitions of, 12-13; devotion to
social values, 25; divisive doc
trines of, 5; supernatural, 13, 15;
universal, 4, 94
Rembrandt, 18
Renaissance, 18-19, 26
Rhodes, Taylor, 41
Rice, William G., 8
Ridley, G. N., in
Rightmeyer, Harold, 41
Risk, Robert G., 8
Robertson, Priscilla, 6
Robinson, James Harvey, 83
Rogolsky, Sonia, 85
Remains, Jules, 6, 83
Rousseau, Jean Jacques, 20
Roy, M. N., 7
Russell, Bertrand, 83, 104
Russians, 79
Samson, Peter, 7
Santayana, George, 5, 83
Saposnekow, Jacob, 8
Sargent, Porter, 5, 111
Sarton, George, 83
Sarton, May, 73
Sartre, Jean-Paul, 104
Sax, Karl, 8
Schiller, F. C. S., 83
Scholasticism, 19
Scholl, Eldon, 8
Scholtz, Jud R., 8
Schug, Philip, 7
Schweikher, Paul, 8
Schweitzer, Albert, 98
Schwenneker, Paul, 41
Science, 19, 45, 99, 106; intelligent
use of, 76; international language
of, 108; as method, 17, 23-25, 27-
29, 38, 58-59 65-66, 68-69, 72, 76,
78, 91, 93* 96, 103; philosophers
of, 54; and religion, 13; social,
69, 94; universal, 10
Scott, Clinton Lee, 7
n8
INDEX
Scott, Harold, 7
Seeley, John R., 8
Sellars, Roy Wood, 7, 83
Senior, Clarence, 8
Separation of church and state, 73
Shakespeare, William, 18
Shaw, George Bernard, 83
Shipley, Miriam de Ford, 6
Shorter, Fred, 7
Shute, J. Ray, 8
Simpson, George, 8, 87
Smith, Alfred E., 35, 50, 56
Smith, Homer W., 111
Smith, Warren Allen, 41, 85, 87
South Place Ethical Society, 99
Soviet communism, 79, 81
Soviet Union, 79-80, 107
Spencer, Herbert, 23
Spinoza, Baruch, 19, 104
Stalnaker, William H., 41, 85
Starr, Mark, 8
Stoddard, George D., 8
Stoics, 105-106
Stoller, B. B., 85, 97
Storm, Carl A., 7
Supernaturalism, 20, 105
Suri, Surindar S., 7
Tagore, Rabindranath, 82
Talbert, E. L., 8
Taoism, 4
Taylor, Harold, 8
Thayer, V. T., 8
Theology, 5, 10, 12, 35, 95
Thompson, Claude W., 8
Thoreau, Henry David, 71
Torrey, Norman, 8
Totalitarianism, 75, 90, 101; in So
viet Union, 79, 102
Treadway, Oswell G., 84
Turner, E. L. Dwight, 8
Twain, Mark, 83
Unesco, 5, 73, 90, 102, 107
Unitarian Fellowships, 5
Unitarians, 7, 11, 35, 41, 82
United Nations, 73
United States: government of, 34;
and individual rights, 72; strength
of, 71; Supreme Court of, 85
Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, 90
Universalists, 7, 11, 35, 41, 82
Universe: creative processes of, 29,
53; as domain of investigation,
18; evolution of, 22, 24; as having
no concern for man, 44, 50-51, 53,
97; and self, 12-13, 24-25, 43;
static picture of, 24. See also Na
ture
University of Chicago, 82
Van Pragg, J. P., 88
Vanderlaan, E. C., 8
Visscher, Maurice B., 8, 88
Voltaire, 20
Wakefield, Eva, 8
Wakefield, Sherman, 8
Walker, Kenneth C., 7
Warbasse, James Peter, 9, 88
Washington, George, 34
Wells, H. G., 83
Wendt, Gerald, 6, 88
White, James H., 9
Whitehead, Alfred North, 12, 104
Whitman, Walt, 83
Whitney, Willis R., 8
Whyte, A. Gowans, 111
Williams, Cora L., 54
Williams, David Rhys, 7
Williams, Gardner, 7
Wilson, Edwin H., 7, 33, 82, 84, 86,
88
Wilson, Janet, 84
Wilson, Woodrow, 75
Winsor, Mary, 9
Wise, Herbert A., 9
Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 104
World Conference on Planned Par
enthood, 90
World Federation of Mental Health,
9<>
World Health Organization, 73, 107
World Humanism Essay Contest, 99
World War I, 82
Young, Frederick W., 85
Zaret, Irving, 85
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